Conservatives Will Not Vote For Some of the You Tube Measures

The series of votes that begin this afternoon at around 5.30 have been insisted on by the Prime Minister in the face of most serious attempts by his own cabal to deter him. His abusive manner to the Opposition Leaders in making a You Tube broadcast setting out an Executive response to immediately calm public outrage at his ministers' behaviour in exploiting access to a parliamentary expense account, rather than awaiting a Parliamentary response, has been exacerbated. Exacerbated by his personal abusiveness to the Leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats when they called on him at his invitation, to discuss his proposals. Screaming in their faces that it is their fault for raising abuse of expenses at all in Parliament is not normal behaviour, let alone courteous.

Mr Cameron has now decided that the particularly vicious little political twist in Brown's proposals, that external earnings of MPs should be declared in minute and intrusive detail, which it might be inferred gave Brown his peculiar satisfactions, will not be supported by the Conservative benches. Brown's response is to accuse Cameron of reneging on what had been agreed on his ill-fated and most improper You Tube intervention.

According to reports in the Times there are votes also on:

Whether MPs staff should be employed directly by Parliament

The need to submit receipts for all expenses, rather than those over £25 as at present

Whether an MPs committee should have the right to change the rules on expenses without a vote in the whole house.

It is to be hoped these will be voted down too but the fear that the measures will be withdrawn all together remains. Brown cannot afford to lose in the House two days running.

UPDATE

The vote will not now take place. Sigh.