The Government has said it ‘would not be appropriate' to pay legal costs to whistleblowers in electoral fraud cases despite a former communities secretary revealing he fought for it to happen.

Lord Pickles revealed in evidence to a House of Lords select committee that he had fought unsuccessfully as communities secretary for the Government to ‘cough up' after four whistleblowers in the Tower Hamlets electoral fraud scandal were left with a legal bill of more than £1.2m.