Critics attack Brown over expenses reform.Summary: Gordon Brown is under pressure over MPs' expenses following a Queen's Speech that contained no legislation on the issue. Gordon Brown is under pressure over MPs' expenses, after the man tasked with cleaning up Westminster said he was "disappointed" that the Queen's Speech contained no legislation to implement his recommendations. Downing Street Downing Street, Westminster, London, England. On the street are the British Foreign Office and, at No. 10, the residence of the first lord of the Treasury, who is usually (although not necessarily) the prime minister of Great Britain. insisted the Prime Minister was not seeking to block Sir Christopher Kelly's reforms, but the chairman of 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, said that a bill was needed to ensure 11 measures are in place before the General Election. In an apparent concession to Sir Christopher, Number 10 said the PM was ready to bring forward any legislation needed to complete his reforms "on a cross-party basis as required". But the move drew accusations of a U-turn from Conservatives, who pointed out that Mr Brown had brushed aside an earlier offer from David Cameron  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. of Tory help to rush the measures onto the statute book Noun 1. statute book - a record of the whole body of legislation in a given jurisdictionwritten account, written record - a written document preserving knowledge of facts or events legislation, statute law - law enacted by a legislative body . The row blew up amid reports that police may be about to pass files to the Crown Prosecution Service Scotland Yard described as "speculation" a newspaper report that the Director of Public Prosecution Keir Starmer will imminently receive files on Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, Labour peers Baroness Uddin and Lord Clarke of Hampstead and Tory Lord Hanningfield. The bulk of the most dramatic measures in this month's Kelly Report - such as banning the employment of MPs' spouses and ending taxpayer funding for mortgages - can be implemented without further legislation. But Sir Christopher believes that key measures must be passed into law by Parliament, and last night said that it was "very important" that this was done before the election to allow the new generation of MPs arriving at Westminster to start with a clean slate. Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved. Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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