Grand Committee plan scrapped

A PLAN to hold the first meeting of the East Midlands Grand Committee in Nottingham in September has been scrapped after the Government suffered an embarrassing defeat in Parliament.

It had scheduled the new committee – comprising every East Midlands MP – to meet in the city on September 9.

But it had not consulted with opposition parties about the date and, when it came to approving it with a Commons vote, did not have enough Labour MPs in the chamber to pass it and the motion to set a date was defeated by 104 votes to 98. The result prompted jubilant cheers from Tories and Liberal Democrats and calls of "what a shambles".

Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin, a Derbyshire MP, pointed out that some of the meetings were scheduled during party conferences.

Grand committees were established this year with the aim of increasing the accountability of regional ministers and to discuss regional issues.