Chancellor Announces Reform of Queen's Accounts

The Queen's accounts are to be subject to full National Audit Office scrutiny and open to questioning by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee, in a radical reform of royal finances unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP.  
Mr. Osborne said that his Sovereign Grant Bill will provide for the Sovereign Grant accounts to be audited by the comptroller and auditor general and laid before Parliament, where they will be subject to the Public Accounts Committee.

Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Mrs. Margaret Hodge MP described the move as 'historic', adding:

"It is hugely important for the future stability of the monarchy and its role in our constitutional settlement that we should modernise our structures, so that they are fit for purpose in today's world and properly meet the legitimate expectations of the taxpayer and the general public.

"This puts, for the first time, those parts of the royal finances that come directly from the taxpayer each year on a transparent basis, consistent with other public expenditure.

"The PAC has a long and well-established history in effective public scrutiny and we will, I am sure, approach these new responsibilities in our traditional way, working objectively and thoroughly on behalf of Parliament and the taxpayer."

Gainsborough Parliamentarian Edward Leigh MP, and Mrs. Hodges' immediate predecessor, said the committee had, under his chairmanship and that of Mrs. Hodge, fought to improve scrutiny of royal finances but added:

"I never thought this day would come."

"This will be tough for the royal household – there is no doubt about that – and there will be strong questioning in the committee, as there is on all these subjects, but that is absolutely right because that is what we are about: accountability. I think they have absolutely nothing to fear."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls MP welcomed the change and remarked that it was vital Parliament should properly scrutinise such significant sums of revenue.

Conservative economic secretary Ms Justine Greening MP, an accountant, said the Bill brings accountability arrangements for the royal household into line with those for other government departments. She commented:

"Sovereign grant expenditure will be audited annually by the comptroller and auditor general and those reports will be laid before Parliament. Should it wish to do so, the Committee of Public Accounts will also be able to scrutinise grant expenditure and will be able to invite the royal household to give evidence."

GE2010: William Hague Launch Campaign Poster in Leeds

Mr. Anthony Calvert, the Conservative's Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Morley and Outwood, and a good friend to those of us south of the Humber, who is fighting to unseat Labour's Ed Ball MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, has been enjoying some success at the beginning of the 'Long Campaign'.

On Monday, as part of the national launch of the poster campaign that is being seen as the Conservatives' opening salvo in the General Election battle, Mr. Calvert welcomed William Hague MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, to Dewsbury Road in the constituency he is contesting which is one of the Conservatives' target seats in Leeds.

Echoing the message of the poster, Mr. Hague said:

"We can't go on as we are with five more years of Gordon Brown.

"He has doubled the national debt and he is planning to double it again."

He said a central plank of Tory policy was to cut the size of the nation's deficit by reducing administration and waste and by freezing the wages of public sector staff, apart from the lowest paid.

Mr. Hague said that would free up money to invest in the NHS. He claimed hard working people had been let down by Labour and were

"about to be clobbered by an increase in national insurance contributions."

He also reaffirmed the Conservatives' aim to develop a high speed rail link between London and the North that would include Leeds.

Thanking activists yesterday Mr. Calvert said:

"I know everyone is just itching to get rid of this tired, discredited and increasingly desperate Labour government.

"Thanks to all who braved the bad conditions on Monday to join me and other Yorkshire PPCs at the launch of the poster campaign... [W]e had close to 40 supporters and helpers joining in. The event was a huge success and was featured heavily in the local and national news.

"This coming 5 months will be a tough slog, but I am sure we are up for it."

There was national coverage of the poster launch in the press and the launch in leeds attracted the cameras of the BBC's flagship Newsnight programme.

Morley & Outwood Constituency 2005 General Election
Notional Result*

Labour: 19,956 (50.2%), Conservative: 10,172 (25.6%), Liberal Democrat: 4,030 (10.1%), Other: 5,570 (14%). Giving Labour a majority of 9,784 (24.6%).

Candidates for the 2010 General Election

Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families (Labour), Mr. Antony Calvert (Conservative), Mr. James Monaghan (Liberal Democrat), Mr. David Daniel (United Kingdom Independence Party), Mr. Chris Beverley (British National Party), Tracy Greenwood, Deputy Party Leader (Peoples National Democrat Party).

*Figures based on details available on ukpollingreport.com.