Bolton South East Conservatives

Commons Defeat of Reform Plan


A bill to "clean up" Parliament in the wake of the expenses scandal has been passed by MPs but only after ministers lost a vote on a key issue.

The shambolic drafting of this Bill, in particular clause 10, which effectively put the whole concept of MPs' freedom of speech in jeopardy, meant that this was not supported in its original form.

The Government was defeated on this particular clause and even former Labour Cabinet Ministers John Reid and Margaret Beckett voted against it.  This had nothing to do with Conservatives wanting to obstruct reform of the House of Commons, and everything to do with clearing up the Government's mess.

David Cameron has been at the forefront of political reform and the idea that we tried to block public scrutiny of the House of Commons is simply nonsense.

But the controversial bill, the centrepiece of which is a new system of external regulation for MPs expenses, later cleared the Commons and will now move on to the House of Lords.