Gordon Brown will attempt a tortuous balancing act today, quelling a head-on revolt by Labour MPs while appearing to side with a public still furious over the misuse of expenses.
The Prime Minister will face Labour MPs in Committee Room 14, less than six hours after many receive demands for repayments, in some cases in six figures, from Sir Thomas Legg, the independent auditor appointed to review claims.
It could hardly be a less ideal way for the Prime Minister to try to recover his political authority after a difficult conference season, having been buffeted by questions about his health, an ICM poll on Saturday that put the Tory lead at 19 points and renewed suggestions that he should be replaced now or early next year. Morale among Labour MPs plunged again over the weekend after a Downing Street statement about the condition of the Prime Minister’s working eye, raising more questions than it answered.
It revealed that on at least three occasions over the summer and autumn Mr Brown saw specialists who found two minor tears in the right retina. “However, as there has been no further deterioration, and no change in his eyesight, they decided against further operations,” it said, before adding ominously that there would be further updates if the situation changed.
One Labour MP called the unusual public statement an overreaction. Others speculated that it might be a softening up of the public for an exit by Mr Brown during the next few months, something vehemently denied by No 10.
This suggestion followed public calls from the former Home Secretary Charles Clarke before Labour’s conference for Mr Brown to use his health as an excuse to stand down.
The chance of Mr Brown stepping down before the election was ruled out by Alan Johnson, the current Home Secretary. He said yesterday that there was no possibility whatsoever that this would happen. “He is fit and well and able and determined and energetic,” he told BBC’s Sunday AM, adding: “I wish everyone could see him at close quarters.”
Mr Johnson again denied that he had leadership ambitions, but gave a lukewarm assessment of Labour’s conference, calling it “fine”.
Despite giving a keynote speech on the economy at Bloomberg this morning, Mr Brown has already conceded that tonight’s meeting of the parliamentary party will be dominated by expenses. According to Whitehall sources, the “vast majority” of MPs are going to be affected, and Mr Brown is expected to be among them.
Mr Brown will tell MPs that he realises that Sir Thomas is “applying new criteria retrospectively”. He will not, however, pass judgment on whether he thinks that this is a good or a bad move, arguing that Sir Thomas’s full findings will not be made public until the new year.
Aides insist that Mr Brown still has confidence in the Legg process, which was agreed by the three main party leaders along with the Members’ Estimate Committee, which is chaired by the Speaker. “Mr Brown is very supportive of the Legg process and there is no softening of his approach in dealing with the problems associated with expenses,” one source said.
But the implicit acknowledgement by the Prime Minister that Sir Thomas may have strayed beyond his remit will be taken by some Labour MPs as a green light to challenge the result. With Mr Brown still facing an uncertain future, he will be nervous of taking on his own party head on, and may even welcome it as a distraction from his own political fate, since the issue may also rebound badly on the Conservatives.
MPs on the Members’ Estimate Committee acknowledge that there is real concern over the work of Sir Thomas, and recognise that the chance of a successful challenge would be high, albeit suicidal.
Sir Thomas has told members of the committee that on areas such as gardening and cleaning, MPs should have had a self-imposed “implicit cap”. Any claims beyond this level, which had not been made public, would be judged extravagant and therefore in need of repayment.
MPs argue, however, that the fees office already operated its own limits, such as the John Lewis list on furniture, and it is unfair for Sir Thomas to arbitrarily create new ones. “Nobody really minds paying back small amounts,” one source said. “What we object to is being named and shamed in this process when the rules change retrospectively.”
John Mann, a Labour MP, suggested that several MPs would resort to the courts. “Those who are retiring are reluctant to pay up, and I have heard some are hiring solicitors. The next sessions of Parliament could be dominated by legal action, which would be a disaster for Parliament and for democracy.
“If Legg rules that some of these arrangements with property were unacceptable, some might have to repay £200,000, but if people are standing down you will not be able to force them. It will come down to money not principle. It is a potential stand-off.”
The Tories declined yesterday to become involved in the furore and refused to say that Sir Thomas had overstepped the mark. Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, indicated, however, that he would pay back anything asked of him by Sir Thomas, which is likely to set a precedent for the rest of the Tory front bench.
Mr Grayling said: “The reality is we work long and variable hours, we get back to London after trips round the country late at night, I have a flat in London for reasons I believe were justified. I’ve given it up because I think the world has changed. I think politicians have to do things differently, and if we don’t now say the world moves on, then people won’t believe that it has.”
He added: “I’ve been very clear in saying that I will make repayments if necessary. I’ve said that I’ve already repaid some of the things that I’ve claimed previously. I think that’s the right thing to do, what we have to do, if we’re going to purge our politics.
“If we’re actually going to sort out the issues that have arisen in the last few months, each one of us individually has to be willing to take a lead, but let me wait and see what’s in my letter. I think everyone across Parliament will be doing the same. I think it’s the right and proper way to do things.”
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