Tories and Lib Dems will boycott new committees

The new system to make regional quangos – like development agencies – more accountable will consist of them being scrutinized by Labour-only groups of MPs.

The bizarre situation has arisen from a spat – which should erupt in the Commons today – between the three main parties over proposed ‘Regional Select Committees’.

Lobbydog predicted there might be a problem when the committees were approved last year.

The difficulty is that all select committees must reflect the political make up of the Commons – meaning they have a Labour majority.

That seems fair when the committee is dealing with nationwide issues, but things change when you’re dealing with a specific area of the country.

The South West, for example, is mainly represented by Lib Dem MPs in the Commons, but under these proposals its Regional Select Committee would still have a Labour majority.

Livid Lib Dems and Tories are going to boycott the new bodies and refuse to nominate any members.

From speaking to Labour MPs I get the feeling the committees will go ahead regardless.