Ministers have defended the decision not to include legislation in the Queen's Speech on MPs' expenses.
Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, who published a report on expenses reform, said he was "disappointed" that the Queen's Speech contained no legislation to implement his recommendations.
Employment minister Jim Knight said the government had already introduced legislation expenses during the summer.
He said: "We did legislate very quickly over the summer to set up the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that legislation gives us all of the powers we need to tackle all of the things in respect of MPs' expenses."
The culture secretary Ben Bradshaw said the government had "given control of the process away" in order to end hundreds of years of self-regulation.
"It is extraordinary for me for the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to now be suggesting that MPs take back control of this process. The whole point is we've given control of the process away," he said.
Most of the proposals in the Kelly Report, such as banning the employment of family members and ending taxpayer support for mortgages-can be implemented without further legislation.
But Sir Christopher believes it is "very important" that measures to bolster the independence of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority are passed into law swiftly.
Number 10 said Gordon Brown was ready to bring forward any legislation needed to complete his reforms "on a cross-party basis as required".
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