NEC unanimously supports PM on expenses clampdown

From @LabourList

Cath Speight, Chair of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee, and Ray Collins, General Secretary of the Labour Party,have said in a statement:

“The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee fully supports the action that Gordon Brown is taking on expenses, and has today unanimously endorsed a tough new disciplinary process that can bar MPs found to have flouted the rules from standing as Labour candidates at the next election.

The NEC has agreed today that a panel of NEC members will be established to interview any Labour MPs where there appears to be evidence against them. The panel will have the power to recommend to the NEC that MPs are not allowed to stand as Labour candidates at the next General Election.

Labour Party members expect the highest standards from Labour representatives and the NEC resolved today that any allegations must be fully investigated, and when appropriate by the proper independent authorities.

The Prime Minister and the Labour Party Chair, Harriet Harman, have already requested that the Committee on Members allowances lead an independent investigation of all expenses claims in the last four years. If the Committee on Members Allowances does not investigate then the Labour Party will launch its own investigation, supported by a leading independent lawyer and accountants, to review all expenses claimed by Labour MPs in the last four years. Any cases of wrongdoing identified in this process will be referred to the NEC’s panel.”