Treasury Select Committee Should Scrutinise MPC Appointments - Cable

3.34.26pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th Jun 2007

The Liberal Democrats today called on the Government to go much further in its reforms of Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) appointments, following Gordon Brown's announcement that new positions will be publicly advertised.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP said:

"The Liberal Democrats advocated the policy of setting up an independent MPC to set interest rates long before the Government.

"In general the policy has been very successful. However, we have consistently argued since 2002 that further steps should be taken to strengthen the independence of members and remove any possible suggestion of political favouritism.

"Future appointments should be made on a longer, single term, basis with scrutiny of the decision by the Treasury Select Committee before the appointment is made."