It Was All Going So Well

TB was vaguely enthused by the Kelly recommendations and would have been happy to see them installed immediately to end the troughing. However it seems Bercow has dropped an absolute clanger in his choice of Sir Ian Kennedy as head of the new implementation body the IPSA.

Well it seems he is New Labour through and through, close friend of Campell who is obviously rattled by the Telegraph given he has gone into auto-defence mode over on appalling designed and hard to read blog.This is of less concern to what

he has said

about the Kelly report:

The seven-month review resulted in a comprehensive report encompassing 60 recommendations which Sir Christopher said should be “handed over to the new regulatory body for implementation in full”.

All of the party leaders also called on IPSA to implement the Kelly report in full.
When he unveiled his report, Sir Christopher called for the rapid implementation of all his reforms, saying: “There is a risk that, as the impact of the revulsion caused by the Daily Telegraph revelation fades with time, some may be thinking of distancing themselves from their earlier expressed determination to implement our report in full. If so, that would, in my view, be an error.”

However, in a direct riposte to Sir Christopher, Sir Ian has told Westminster insiders that the Kelly report was “only one of the bases of the conversation” into the future of MPs allowances.

He added that, according to the legislation under which IPSA was founded, there was “no obligation to implement” Kelly and it was “merely his [Sir Christopher’s] assumption” that it would be.

He is said to feel that Sir Christopher’s lengthy inquiry, which included more than 1,000 witness statements and nine public hearings, was not a “proper” consultation.
In particular, he has told officials that he is unhappy with proposed reforms which would ban MPs from employing relatives, and require those who made profits from the sale of second homes to hand it over to the taxpayer.

In another direct challenge to Kelly, Sir Ian has also said that there is “no appetite” for legislation, meaning that he does not immediately plan to adopt the Committee’s call for the setting of MPs’ pay.

It's not looking good. Oh Bercow what have

you

done.