MPs' pay will be regulated, vows PM

12 April 2012

The House of Commons can no longer operate as a "gentlemen's club" and must move to a system of outside regulation, Gordon Brown has said.

The Prime Minister told a Downing Street news conference that an independent outside body would need to take over the Commons Fees Office and operate a new allowances system.

He said the Government would make legislative time available for the new arrangements to be put on a statutory footing.

Mr Brown said major changes are needed to the way Parliament is run to end "all the misuses and misjudgements of the past".

The Prime Minister also promised to reform the system of expenses and said MPs would no longer set their own pay.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard confirmed police will not investigate the leaking of details of MPs' allowances and expenses to a national newspaper because it was not considered to be in the public interest.

Earlier, Mr Brown said that no MP who has defied the rules on their Commons expenses would be allowed to stand for election as a Labour Party candidate.

After addressing a meeting of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, Mr Brown said that the expenses of every MP going back four years would be examined.

Mr Brown added: "If they are found to have broken the rules, then action will be taken."

He said the cases of Elliot Morley and David Chaytor, who received expenses to cover mortgage interest payments after the loans in question had been paid off, were being considered by the NEC and the two MPs continued to be suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

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