The sleaze drip has forced some urgency into the report on expenses promised by Sir Christopher Kelly, Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life:
In a statement released today, Sir Christopher said it was “now obvious” that a quicker probe was needed and that they would suspend other work and begin an “independent, wide-ranging” review straight away.
“The situation has changed quite dramatically over the last few months and I am pleased that there is now such widespread political consensus on the need for reform,” he said.
“I hope that this will translate into full acceptance of our recommendations by all the main political parties - challenging though they are likely to be.”
He went on: “The issues involved are complex. We will be meeting with party leaders and intend to publish an Issues and Questions Paper within the next few weeks. We will ask for written submissions from all interested parties and hold a number of public hearings. All evidence submitted to the inquiry will be published.
The 'political consensus' has been arranged by the increasing wave of revelations that has now engulfed the government; this is not action from concerned parties but a need to show a response after the lackadaisical 'personal' buck-passing displayed by Brown yesterday. The truncation of the time for this review is a figleaf to spare the government's blushes.