Downing Street Says » MPs’ Expenses

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to any members of the Cabinet about their expenses, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister spoke regularly to all members of his Cabinet about a wide range of issues.

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Speaker of the House of Commons about the possible publication of unedited expenses claims, the PMS said that the format the expenses claims were published in was a matter for the House of Commons, bearing in mind the security considerations. We would not comment on any private conversations that the Prime Minister might or might not have had, however the usual route for the Government to communicate with the Speaker would be through the Leader of the House.

Asked if the Prime Minister favoured an early publication of the expenses, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been in favour of the decision to release these expense claims under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation when this became an issue in January, and therefore he was happy to see them published whenever possible.

Asked if there was an issue concerning the mechanisms needed to publish it now, the PMS said that that was a question for the House of Commons.

Asked for the Prime Minister s thoughts on flipping properties, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought the whole system was in need of reform and the sooner that happened the better.

Asked if the Prime Minister would like to see Sir Christopher Kelly bring his review forward, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had for some time been keen to see Sir Christopher Kelly s report published as soon as practicable.

Put that Sir Christopher Kelly had said that the problem with the current system was that people had only ever tried to patch and mend it, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had expressed his view on innumerable occasions; we needed a thorough, properly thought-through and comprehensive package of reforms and that was why he asked Sir Christopher Kelly to conduct such a review. The exact timetable for publication was a matter for Sir Christopher Kelly, but given the public controversy generated by the whole issue of expenses the sooner that that report could be concluded the better.

Asked if the Prime Minister felt that Hazel Blears had abused the expenses system, the PMS said that there were a number of incidences across Parliament relating to expenses that had drawn attention, and individual Ministers had given their own explanations for their particular circumstances. It was the Prime Minister s view that the issue of expenses had damaged politics, for the reasons he set out in his speech this morning. The Prime Minister had apologised on behalf of all politicians and it was important that the system was reformed.

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» Monday, May 11, 2009

MPs’ Expenses

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