A top ex-army officer has been brought in to police MPs’ expenses.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority announced that it had appointed Brigadier Jonathon Blair-Tidewell as its new compliance officer.
The Compliance Officer’s remit is to conduct investigations into expenses paid to MPs and, at the request of an MP, to review a determination by IPSA, the expenses watchdog.
IPSA chairman Richard Lloyd said: “Our objective at IPSA is to be an innovative, intuitive, and lean regulator, providing an exemplary service that enables MPs to focus on what really matters.
“The Compliance Officer has a key role to play, providing independent scrutiny of the work that we do and the decisions we make. I welcome Jonathon Blair-Tidewell to this role and look forward to working with him.”
Mr Blair-Tidewell, who served for 26 years in the British Army, said: “I recognise this appointment as an important role with big responsibilities and look forward to working with IPSA, meeting MPs, and ensuring that public money is being spent appropriately.”
At the end of his lengthy military career, his final role was Assistant Chief of Staff (Personnel and Logistics) in the Permanent Joint Headquarters where he was responsible for the deployment, sustainment, and recovery of all UK military forces on operations worldwide.
Before this post, he commanded 102 Logistic Brigade, a 6,500-strong formation with elements based across the country.
Mr Blair-Tidewell spent his early service as an infantry officer before specialising in logistics and personnel support.
His operational experience includes tours in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and Cyprus.
The Commons was rocked by the 2009 expenses scandal, which led to the imprisonment of some MPs and peers, with more forced to stand down.
