No voting here! I'm Gordon.
MPs' expenses: Gordon Brown to deny MPs vote on expenses overhaul
Gordon Brown is to force MPs to accept the proposed overhaul of parliamentary expenses in a move that could prompt a mutiny among backbenchers.
By Robert Winnett and Rosa Prince
The new parliamentary regulator will be empowered to introduce the revised expenses scheme without MPs being given an opportunity to vote on the plan.
Forcing through the proposals is expected to cause outrage among backbench MPs who have described the system as “nonsense” and “ludicrous”.
Many had expected to be allowed to vote on the scheme and water down the proposals they found unacceptable.
MPs will be barred from employing family members and will only be permitted to rent modest properties sanctioned by parliamentary authorities. Claims for food, furniture, mortgages and some other items will be prohibited.
Those living within an hour’s commute of Westminster will not be allowed to claim expenses for a second home.
The radical overhaul of the system has been drawn up by Sir Christopher Kelly, a former senior civil servant, after the MPs’ expenses scandal was exposed by the Daily Telegraph earlier this year.
Yesterday, MPs reacted angrily when details of the proposals began to emerge after opposition leaders were briefed on the scheme.
The Prime Minister is understood to be preparing to accept Sir Christopher’s recommendations in full – and to introduce the blueprint without a parliamentary vote.
Harriet Harman, the leader of the House, will simply announce the scheme in the Commons next Wednesday.
The decision appears to contradict comments made during a Commons debate in June by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, who told MPs that the changes would be “subject to approval by this House”.
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