Financial Provision for Members

Lord Tomlinson Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

I have already said how grateful the House should be to my noble friend. He has come up with an immensely useful and helpful report. It is now in the Printed Paper Office and I hope that noble Lords will take the trouble to read it.

[Lord Tomlinson]

My Lords—

[Lord Dholakia]

My Lords—

[Lord Tomlinson]

No, this side!

[Lord McNally]

I hope that we can be sensible about this.

[Lord Tomlinson]

My Lords—

[Noble Lords]

Order!

[Lord McNally]

Clearly the noble Lord is not going to be sensible about it. Let him go on.

[Lord Tomlinson]

Is the noble Lord aware that there was unanimity in the Wakeham committee right up to the point of our last meeting? At that meeting, the idea of a flat-rate allowance was introduced. As a result of that discussion, I entered a footnote of reservation to the Wakeham committee report, because I do not think that considering that flat-rate allowance fitted with the mandate of the House, which was to work within the structure and architecture of the SSRB report. There was no such reference in the SSRB report, hence my note of reservation. The particular reasons for there being dissent also in the detail will come out in the debate, but let it not be said that the idea fitted in with the architecture and the principles of the SSRB report. That is why there is a note of reservation.