The Telegraph marks the 10 year anniversary of the MPs’ expenses scandal

New documentary tells the inside story of The Telegraph’s award winning investigation

May 7, 2019 On May 8 2009, The Daily Telegraph began the publication of an investigation known as The Expenses Files. 10 years on to mark its anniversary, the team who helped bring the scandal to light are telling the inside story behind the investigation in The Telegraph’s new documentary, The Disk: The Real Story of MPs’ Expenses’.

At the heart of this documentary is the first ever on camera interview with the original source of the disk, in which he powerfully explains the momentous decision he and others took to bring it into the public domain.

Tracing the story of the expenses files in 2009, the documentary features interviews with key members of the team who were at the heart of this investigation. The documentary also features never before seen footage of The Telegraph’s ‘bunker’, home to the team of journalists working on this story. As well as looking at the political and public fallout at the time, the documentary also evaluates the social and political legacy of The Telegraph’s investigation a decade on.

Part one of The Disk: The Real Story of MPs’ Expenses is available via: Telegraph.co.uk/thedisk, with the full film open to all Telegraph subscribers.

The Telegraph will also be publishing additional new content to mark this anniversary. Expenses, a new six-part Telegraph podcast on journalism, politics, and what it’s like to bring a huge national secret into the light, will be available from May 8, with further episodes released weekly.

There will also be new interactive tools available to explore at telegraph.co.uk. These include a data tool enabling readers to break down the current expenses of MPs and a feature enabling readers to put themselves in the shoes of an MP in 2009, navigating the claims system.

Chris Evans, Editor, The Telegraph said:

‘This was a landmark in the history of British journalism which well and truly established The Telegraph’s reputation for investigative reporting. The fact that, 10 years later, people are still talking about the expenses investigation is testament to the fine work of all those journalists who contributed, including not just dogged reporters but also brilliant sub-editors, leader writers, picture editors, designers, lawyers and many more’.