Open Government

A force of conservatism has criticised the Government's policy of openness concerning the expenses of Members of Parliament. Michael Martin, a Member of Parliament, is conducting a review of the expenses of Members of Parliament which could almost certainly be described as independent provided one were the kind of person who believes that - to take a random example - the Prime Minister should be allowed to appoint the Attorney General. Nevertheless, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Sir Christopher Kelly, has described as "unfortunate" an appeal by the House of Commons to prevent the expenses of its members from becoming public knowledge. As a matter of fact, since the appeal will be conducted at the taxpayers' expense, it is difficult to see what there is for parliamentarians to find unfortunate about it. "Asking a group of parliamentarians to review their own system of pay and allowances without any independent input is a very difficult thing to do," Kelly said, revealing the deplorable lack of ambition which so often afflicts those who stand in the way of the Government's principled actions.