The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is running a public consultation on MPs’ expenses, to run from 7 January to 11 February 2010. The IPSA was created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, in response to last summer’s public outcry at MPs’ expenses and allowances claims under the existing scheme. The body is independent of Parliament, Government

Mary Dejevsky has a piece in today’s Independent on public sector pensions. It’s much more thoughtful than the usual media attacks on public sector pensions as while she uses the language of pensions apartheid she concludes by attacking David Cameron’s comments that I blogged...

Three Cabinet ministers claimed the cost of hiring a "media trainer" on their office expenses.

IREX is an international non governmental organisation which seeks to encourage the development of independent media worldwide. Its Media Sustainability Index (MSI) provides in-depth analyses of the conditions for independent media in over nations in Africa, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East and is used as an important measure for comparing freedom of speech, and independence of the media/ pres...

There is strong public support for an independent inquiry into the proposed takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation, the media firm run by tycoon Rupert Murdoch, an opinion poll has found.

The Independent Newspaper is owned by the Irish Group Independent News and Media. The Sunday Business Post reported pending staff cuts of up to 20%: INM to cut London Independent staff by up to 40 per cent Independent News & Media (INM) is targeting a 40 per cent cut in the workforce at its British Independent and Independent on Sunday newspaper titles as part of a plan to share production and...

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has launched a public consultation to help determine what should be valid expenses claims by MPs.

Over the last eight months, I have posted several times about the abuse by some MPs of their expenses system. In general, my comments have been about the inadequacy of response. I've also commented about the indiscriminate nature of the media coverage. Public anger has been directed at the sheer ridiculous of some of some of the claims, rather than at the seriousness and what would be fraud i...

When is a media row not a media row? When the media doesn’t report it. This week has been rightly dominated by ‘Metgate’ and Andy Coulson. But another media controversy tells a different story about British culture and acceptable public behaviour. The row centres about comments made by Baroness Ruth Deech and Douglas Murray on Radio 4s Any Questions programme (20 August).

An independent auditing body is expected to be set up to validate MPs' expenses, as politicians try to restore public trust.