Downing Street Says » MPs’ expenses

Asked if the Prime Minister had received a letter from Sir Thomas Legg about paying money back on expenses claims, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not received the letter and referred journalists to what the Prime Minister had said this morning on GMTV on how he would react to receiving the letter.

Put that the Prime Minister had already paid some money back, the PMS said that that was correct.

Put that the Prime Minister should be paying back around 4000, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not received the letter yet, and as such we did not know what the letter said. We needed to wait and see what the context of the letter was and then follow the process. The Prime Minister had initiated the Legg process and thought it was an important part of strengthening public trust and confidence in the political system.

Asked if the Prime Minister supported every aspect of Sir Thomas Legg’s work, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was fully behind Sir Thomas Legg and felt that what the Legg process dealt with was the last part of a discredited old system. The Christopher Kelly report and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority were a new approach going forward. The Prime Minister believed that this was about tidying up the old system and was keen that we moved quickly and effectively towards it.

Put that Legg had gone beyond his brief and that the retrospective nature of his work was unfair, the PMS said that the Prime Minister accepted that this process was not completely perfect, but it was important that it was done in the right way; he encouraged all MPs who received letters to look at them carefully and respond appropriately.

Asked if the Prime Minister had decided what to do once he had seen the letter, the PMS said that people should allow the Prime Minister to receive the letter.

Asked if the Prime Minister was happy for details of his letter from Sir Thomas Legg to go out, the PMS said that the Prime Minister could not say or do anything until he had received the letter. The Prime Minister had shared his thoughts on the process on GMTV this morning; Sir Thomas Legg would make recommendations and people would have a chance to look at them and if his advice was to repay, then that should happen.

Put that there was nothing compelling MPs to act in a certain way on receiving their letters from Sir Thomas Legg, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would encourage everyone to deal with it in the way he was proposing to deal with it.

Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister intended to publish his letter from Sir Thomas Legg, the PMS said that a process was underway; letters would be received by MPs today, there would then be a three-week process in which MPs had a chance to respond to any questions raised and at the right time the report would be published.

Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on whether MPs should call in solicitors, the PMS said that the Prime Minister did not have a view on that but he wanted people to get through the process as quickly as possible.

Asked if that meant the Prime Minister would be against any action that would extend the process beyond three weeks, the PMS said that it was for individual MPs to decide what they had to do. The Prime Minister was keen for us to move away from the old system and towards a new system as quickly as possible.

Asked if that meant the report would be published at the end of the three-week period, the PMS said that that was not necessarily the case; there was a three-week process and then Sir Thomas Legg would pull together the public report.

Asked if the Prime Minister had any sympathy with MPs who felt that rules were being applied retrospectively, the PMS said that the Prime Minister accepted that there was an element of retrospection to this system, but that was the way it was being applied. The Prime Minister believed that we had an agreed approach with Sir Thomas Legg that enabled people to respond to questions raised.

Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that he had done things wrong in regards to his expenses, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not received his letter from Sir Thomas Legg yet.

Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the way Sir Thomas Legg had dealt with this issue, the PMS said that the Prime Minister accepted that this had to be carried out in the way that Sir Thomas Legg thought was appropriate.

Put that the Prime Minister had said that he wouldn’t be surprised if MPs went to court and asked if the Prime Minister would be surprised to see bankers in court, the PMS said the Prime Minister would be surprised to see any person appear in court; it was his hope that this process would show no examples of excess which would result in a court appearance. The Prime Minister believed that the vast majority of people who went into public life and politics were doing it for the right reasons.

Put that the Prime Minister had said that some MPs could end up in court, the PMS said that that was conceivable but the general point was that the Prime Minister believed that the vast majority of people who went into public life and politics were doing it for the right reasons.

Asked if the Prime Minister would expect bankers to appear in court, the PMS said that anyone who breached the law would expect to appear in court irrespective of what walk of life they were in.

Asked when we could expect more from Sir Christopher Kelly, the PMS said that he would check and get back to journalists.

Asked how committed the Prime Minister was to accepting Kelly’s report, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was looking forward to seeing the recommendations and thought it was an important part of the new process going forward. It was the Prime Minister who requested Sir Christopher to start the review and expected him to suggest a completely new system so that the kind of issues we had seen would never occur again.

Asked how committed the Prime Minister was in principle to accepting Sir Christopher Kelly’s recommendations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not yet received the report, but had commissioned it on the basis that he expected Sir Christopher Kelly to recommend a new system. It would be surprising if the Prime Minister had major issues with the Kelly report, given that he was expecting him to produce recommendations on a new system that would work going forward.

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» Monday, October 12, 2009

MPs’ expenses

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