Westminster in Trouble


The whole business surrounding Maria Miller's now infamous non-apology to the House of Commons is yet another nail in the coffin of the Westminster Parliament, if you ask me.

Because this is politics at its worst and helps to explain why Westminster politicians are held in such contempt by so many voters - they are fed up to the back teeth of MPs making up the rules to suit themselves.

Lots of Westminster MPs have done what Maria Miller has done which is to make a huge financial killing out of London property prices with vast sums of public money lining the pockets of honourable members and lots of Labour MPs have done exactly the same as their Conservative colleagues over the years.

The most outrageous aspect of the affair is that the independent report of the Parliamentary Commissioner was overturned and then diluted by a group of MPs sitting in judgement of one of their own and on that score Sir Ian Kennedy (Chair of IPSA) is absolutely right - it is scandalous that MPs are able to mark their own homework.   

To my mind Westminster is unfit for purpose with far too many MPs putting their personal and/or party interests before the interests of the public - for example it seems ridiculous to me that someone like Gordon Brown can spend so much of his time away from the House of Commons, yet no one says a word or demands that he stands down.

Labour MPs are happy complain about Tory MPs or vice versa when they should be dealing with bad behaviour wherever it is found - without fear of favour to either individuals or the political parties they support.      

And the fact that Westminster so often fails to do the right thing helps to explain the widespread anti-politics mood of much of the country at the moment and the rise of UKIP in England, for example.


‘MPs can’t be trusted on expenses’

Miller affair sparks watchdog attack


Marie Woolf and Jack Grimston - The Sunday Times

Miller, the culture secretary, was told by the Commons standards committee to pay back £5,800 and make an apology to the House

THE watchdog in charge of parliamentary expenses has declared war on MPs, saying they can no longer be trusted to police their own affairs.

In an explosive intervention in the row over culture secretary Maria Miller’s claims, Sir Ian Kennedy called for the Commons to “give away powers in regulating itself”. He claimed that “MPs marking their own homework always ends in scandal”.

He said ending the system under which a committee of MPs ultimately decides whether one of their colleagues is guilty of misconduct over expenses — and how they should be punished — is the “only way forward”.

“We have made great progress in cleaning up the problems of the past,” Kennedy, chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), told The Sunday Times. “To avoid further damage to parliament in the future, it should have the confidence to give away powers in regulating itself and see that independent regulation is the best, most transparent way forward.”

His comments came after Miller, the culture secretary, was told by the Commons standards committee to pay back £5,800 and make an apology to the House.

Its report watered down recommendations from Kathryn Hudson, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, that Miller should repay some £44,000 in over-claimed mortgage interest payments.

Kennedy’s call comes as John Bercow, the speaker, has insisted that he reapply for his own job within the next four weeks. His contract ends in November, but he was widely assumed to be continuing for a second term.

The Ipsa chairman, who has revamped the expenses system following the 2009 scandal, has fallen out with MPs and party leaders over his attempt to cut their excessive claims and revolutionise the remuneration system by increasing their pay while slashing perks.

Miller is coming under increasing pressure over allegations that she browbeat Hudson during the 14-month investigation into the mortgage claims. She has also been attacked for her perfunctory 32-second apology to MPs.

Kennedy yesterday criticised the way the Commons committee on standards, made up of 10 MPs and three non-voting lay members, rode roughshod over Hudson’s recommendations.

“MPs marking their own homework always ends in scandal,” said Kennedy. “It happened with expenses. It will happen with standards investigations too. Ipsa has shown that independent regulation of parliamentary behaviour can work. Our reforms have cleaned up the system.”

Kennedy pointed out that Miller’s mortgage claims were made before Ipsa took over responsibility for managing MPs’ finances.

He said: “There is a lesson from Ipsa which ought to be learnt with the commissioner for standards too. [Hudson] should be given the freedom to carry out her work and not have her wings clipped by MPs.”

Kennedy now faces the awkward prospect of being interviewed for his own job within the next four weeks. The decision to advertise the role, in today’s Sunday Times, has raised eyebrows in parliament where a technical reason has been given for the decision, saying the rules require it to be readvertised. But sources close to Kennedy said he “still had work to do”.

If Kennedy reapplies he will have to be interviewed by a panel, including Bercow. The move will be viewed as revenge by MPs angered that their expenses have been cut and party leaders who have opposed his decision to recommend an 11% pay rise for MPs.

The investigation into Miller was triggered by a complaint from John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, after it emerged she had claimed £90,718, mainly for mortgage interest payments on her designated second home in London. In apparent contravention of the rules, her parents were also living there.

While this part of the complaint was not upheld, she was criticised for over-claiming by not reducing the amounts when interest rates fell. The committee of MPs accepted Miller’s assertion that she only owed £5,800 in over-claimed interest rather than about £44,000 which Hudson had recommended she repay.

The MPs said, in a joint statement with Hudson, that, after the end of her investigation, their committee had been “able to secure further information from Mrs Miller”, showing she had increased her mortgage by over £150,000 after 2005 and not the £50,000 Hudson had been told. The MPs accepted this meant she was entitled to claim more interest on her expenses.

Some committee members have expressed frustration that Miller had kept coming forward with snippets of new information after Hudson’s report. “She kept dribbling out bits and pieces when we just wanted to get on and finish,” said one member.

Kennedy’s call to end self- regulation by MPs is likely to be helped by the disclosure that half of the members on the committee have been involved in expenses controversies, including Sir Kevin Barron, the chairman, who was found to be claiming £1,500 a month from renting his home to another MP.

In a further embarrassment for Miller, her department’s Twitter account was hacked last night. Messages mocking her, including one that claimed she was “a modern day Robin Hood, she robs the poor to help the rich”, were posted before being removed.

Last night, there was speculation that Miller could be moved in the next reshuffle, with senior Tory women ministers said to be keen to take her place. “Even the Conservative sisterhood are not that bothered if she goes because they reckon Cameron has a quota and they’d like a slot freed up,” said a Tory MP.

The prime minister’s spokesman said Cameron had full confidence in Miller, although an unnamed minister told The Sunday Telegraph that her behaviour was “incompatible” with being in the cabinet and she should go. A poll in today’s Mail on Sunday shows 78% of the public — and 82% of Tory voters — want her sacked.

The Sun on Sunday said Miller and her husband, Iain, had moved into a £1.2m, five-bedroom converted barn in Hampshire. The price is similar to the profit she made from the sale of the London home at the heart of the row.

Miller refused to comment.

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