SNP WRITE TO PM ON COMMITTEE CARVE UP.

SNP WRITE TO PM ON COMMITTEE CARVE UP.


BROWN QUIZZED ON COMMITMENT TO ALLOWANCES REFORM

The Prime Minister has been challenged to explain why the appointment of an SNP MP to the Members' Allowances Committee - the committee charged with cleaning up the Commons expenses system - was blocked by a senior Labour whip.

Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart has written to Gordon Brown after his nomination was blocked by the UK government. Mr Wishart was proposed as a replacement for Democratic Ulster Unionist (DUP) MP Nigel Dodds, whose role as Northern Ireland Finance Minister meant he would not have enough time to play a full role on what is set to be a busy committee.

The custom at Westminster is for the minority parties – the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the DUP – to act together to secure a fair share of committee appointments, however, a Labour whip refused to accept Mr Wishart’s nomination and insisted on a DUP MP instead.

Mr Wishart said:

“This committee is supposed to be about cleaning up Westminster, and yet Gordon Brown appears to be pulling the strings to exclude people who want real reform of the allowances system.

“The SNP is strongly committed to reforming the allowances and expenses system to the standard of the Scottish Parliament, and it is difficult to understand why we have been denied a place on this committee when asked to volunteer.

“It is no wonder Westminster is in such a mess when Labour cannot get beyond its narrow politics of grievance and control freakery. This committee must engage with all the parties represented in parliament.

“This situation calls into question Gordon Brown’s commitment to involve all parties in a desperately needed reform process.

“This is no time for another political stitch-up between the three London parties, and as wide a range of views should be considered as we look for a solution to this Westminster mess.

“Westminster should follow the open, transparent and reformed system operated in the Scottish Parliament, and that is exactly what the SNP would argue for.

"When the Scottish Parliament moved to total transparency, two things happened - the scandals and the embarrassments stopped because information was volunteered and, secondly, everybody behaved themselves because they knew it was going to be published every three months.

"This is easy - there's actually a working model of how to solve this issue in Scotland at the present moment and why doesn't Westminster just adopt it."