Climb-down on expenses; POLITICS: Brown avoids embarrassing Commons defeat.Byline: James Tapsfield PLANS to scrap MPs' second home allowance have been delayed after an embarrassing climb-down by Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister abandoned attempts to replace the controversial second-home allowance for MPs with a daily attendance allowance, when he appeared set for a Commons defeat. It would have been his second loss in two days, after Labour rebels and opposition MPs rejected the Government's policy on Gurkhas on Wednesday. But Mr Brown avoided defeat by withdrawing the plans and accepting that an independent committee should decide how to reform MPs' expenses.. Liam Byrne, minister for the Cabinet Office and MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill Hodge Hill is an area seven km east of Birmingham city centre, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller constituency ward and the wards of Bordesley Green, Shard End and Washwood Heath. , gave a spirited defence of the Prime Minister, claiming "we have had the smack of firm government" on expenses reform. He said: "Gordon asked the House to focus on it, and the House was galvanised to action." Mr Brown surprised colleagues by using YouTube to set out his proposals for reform, including a daily attendance allowance. It followed a number of high-profile controversies over MPs' expenses, including the claims made by home secretary Jacqui Smith, the MP for Redditch, who charged to the taxpayer the cost of pornographic films watched by her husband, an 89p bathplug and a pounds 1,000 antique fireplace. But critics, including opposition leaders and some Labour backbenchers, claimed Mr Brown's proposals would reward MPs just for turning up. They also said the Government should wait until the Committee on Standards in Public Life The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government. The committee was established in 1994 by Prime Minister John Major in response to concerns that conduct by some politicians was unethical - for example, , which is chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly Sir Christopher William Kelly KCB (born 18 August 1946 in Bromley, Kent, England), is the current Chairman of the NSPCC and a former senior Civil Servant. He is the son of Dr. Reginald Kelly (1917-90), a former President of the Association of British Neurologists. , had completed its review into expenses. The Government announced a compromise earlier this week, when it said it would not introduce a daily allowance immediately, but would ask Sir Christopher to look at the idea. However, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats, British political party Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. and some Labour MPs continued to object, and finally, Commons Leader Harriet Harman announced that the Government was abandoning the idea, hours before a vote on the issue was due.. |
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