A good day to bury the news that ministerial car use has soared

The use of cars by ministers has risen by nearly 8 per cent in the past year, according to government figures, at a cost to the taxpayer of £6m.

MPs have also seen their allowances and expenses rise by an inflation-busting 5.5 per cent to a total £95m bill for the taxpayer. And as MPs packed their bags for the 10-week summer recess of Parliament, they heard that the Prime Minister had received a report recommending further increases in their salaries of £60,000, and their allowances.

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The disclosures were part of an avalanche of announcements made in the last 48 hours before Parliament closed for the summer. Tory leaders accused Gordon Brown of dumping 76 announcements on the Commons to "bury bad news". The announcements ranged from the disclosure that Tony Blair had hosted dinners for celebrities at Chequers, including Charlotte Church, to the confirmation that Menwith Hill, the US listening base in Yorkshire, was to be used for the US missile defence programme.

As the announcements caught MPs by surprise, the Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, slipped out details of the cost of ministerial travel. The biggest spender was the Cabinet Office, including the former prime minister and the ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott, which used eight cars, at a cost of more than £500,000. The biggest increase came from the former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett and the Foreign Office, up by more than a third.

Figures for overseas travel by cabinet ministers showed eight out of 29 trips to Brussels used Eurostar, with the rest involving flying. Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on the Cabinet Office, said: "The Waterloo Eurostar terminal is very close to the Houses of Parliament. It cannot be that difficult for ministers to find. Helping to tackle climate change appears to be something that the Cabinet believes is best left to other people."

The Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, Susan Kramer MP, said: "The taxpayer paid nearly £6m for ministers' car travel last year. It is time to bring these spiralling costs under control. The Government must justify this massive increase in car use."

But the MPs are likely to be more interested in the third triennial report of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). Mr Brown is sitting on the report until October when they return from their summer break. He urged the SSRB to keep the rise in MPs' pay to no more than 2 per cent, in line with the average pay rise for the public sector. The SSRB review also covers MPs' allowances and the Government, in its evidence, suggested sweeping changes. Between the reviews, MPs' salaries are automatically uprated in line with civil service pay, but the Government thinks a different mechanism may be needed from April 2008.

The staffing allowance for MPs is £87,276 and the latest figures show that claims for staffing allowances rose 5.1 per cent to £53m.The allowance includes £20,440 for constituency offices, and some MPs have said it is too low to pay their staff. The Government has suggested the SSRB should consider increasing it.

Slipped out before recess

* A new C-17 transport plane has been ordered to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, announced. It follows a critical report by the Commons Defence Committee.

* MPs allowances cost the taxpayer £95m, a rise of 5.5 per cent over the year.

* The report of the Senior Salaries Review Body on MPs' pay and allowances has been handed to the Prime Minister. Ministerial car travel increased by 8 per cent last year.

* Gordon Brown appointed the Labour Party chairman and Leader of the Commons, Harriet Harman, as the Secretary of State for Equality, responsible for a new Equalities Office at cabinet level.

* Paul Myners, who gave two cash donations to Gordon Brown's campaign to become leader, has been appointed to his fourth government post as chairman of the personal accounts delivery unity.

* Plans for nine new unitary councils have been announced and the abolition of more than 25 district or county councils across the country.

* Child support agency figures show there are £3.5bn worth of outstanding payments this year.

* The Government supports a proposal to allow e-petitions to Parliament. They will have to be sponsored by MPs.