Wales leading the Way?

If a week is a long time in politics, then a month must be akin to an epoch. On June 3rd a draft timetable was being constructed by rebel Labour MPs to usurp Gordon Brown from his position as Prime Minister. A combination of dire predictions concerning EU and local elections results, combined with the lack of leadership shown over MPs' expenses, led most political commentators to agreed that Mr Brown had one reshuffle to save his career.

How swiftly the press focus can be distracted by a new speaker and the promise of "serious reform", to the extent that all that remains in the public consciousness is bitter taste and a significant distrust of all politicians.

However, the National Assembly of Wales has quickly learnt the lessons from its Westminster colleague and produced a list of proposals that will potentially negate a similar scandal. These proposals include:

• Assembly Members (AM) to rent not buy second homes
• Second homes for 25 instead of 51 out of the 60 AMs
• Receipt for every claim
• £30.65 overnight (food) allowance scrapped
• No employment of AMs' family members in future
• No more claims for furniture or fittings on second homes
• Independent valuation of office rent payments by AMs to political parties
• AMs' pay linked to average earnings not MPs' salaries

Whether these proposals have been developed with a spirit of competition between two competing legislatures or whether it is a genuine attempt by the National Assembly to demonstrate that there is 'clear blue water' (to borrow a phrase) between London and Cardiff, does not matter.

What matters is that a new standard in public service can be discovered by Parliament from the regions; and hopefully a new trust can be developed between the public and their elected representatives.

Second, Third, Fourth Job.

This Westminster saga might feel like the Big Brother series from hell, thankfully without Davina McCall, but the MPs' expenses scandal is still rumbling on. On July 1st 2009, MPs will be forced to reveal all their various other "interests", this means that any MP with a second (and in many cases third and fourth) job must openly publicize their incomes and hours worked away from Parliament.

Apparently this is to create an atmosphere of transparency and openness in Parliament. However the only logical consequence is the exposing of more revelations concerning MPs lack of dedication to their constituency.

For instance, sixteen of the twenty-two frontbench Conservative MPs have second jobs; these range from non executive directorships at big financial institutions, such as Oliver Letwin at NM Rothschild, to writing newspaper columns like William Hague. In total the Shadow Cabinet consists of twenty-six members who currently hold one hundred and fifteen directorships (yes that is right: 115) between them.

Obviously is not just confined to the Tory Frontbench, it is endemic across all parties, but as an example it illustrates the point perfectly.

How can this beneficial to the country and their constituency? As a shadow cabinet their main purpose is to scrutinize the policy and actions of the incumbent government, rather than feathering their own nests. There have been many occasions that the current Tory Frontbench have failed to hold the government to account recently, and it has fallen to the Lib Dems and the press to expose government policy.

This point is illustrated by a previous blog post; The Rise and Fall of the Career Politician.

Christopher Kelly is currently investigating all aspects of MPs' expenses and outside interests, as part of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Hopefully, this will draw the only logical conclusion possible; that it is a conflict of interests for a current Member of Parliament to hold any permanent position outside Westminster. Furthermore, if any MPs wish to continue working in the private sector, then they would be forced to step down as an MP.

There are some obvious comparisons between the House of Commons and Big Brother, but at least in Big Brother it is possible to vote out certain housemates. However, it is doubtful that many MPs would be shown their "best bits"...

You turn if you want to, the Gurkha's not for turning!

Another day, another Telegraph exclusive. Parliament is wading through another scandal, with more frivolous claims on a MP's expenses account being revealed (to be fair I did not know that duck houses even existed before today), but the Government and opposition claimed a very public victory for the status quo of the current system.

The Gurkha's rightful victory today, against a post colonial relic of a law, has been championed by most as a perfect example of how the Westminster system can quickly react to public demand and opinion. Even quicker if you have a celebrity and national treasure campaigning in your corner.

The Gurkhas have fought many opponents in their illustrious history, many more vicious and many more tactically astute, but none more stubborn than the British Government.

Unexpectedly the opposition, rather than viscerally claiming a U-turn or another stolen policy, decided to support the Government's decision, claiming 'it was not a day for political point score'. Surprising since a few weeks ago the Conservatives would have been in hysterics if Gordon Brown had changed his mind about how many sugars he takes in his tea.

There appears to be a Blitz mentality surrounding Westminster recently, unholy alliances being formed in the most British of ways, as the Government churn out policy initiatives one after the other in a naive attempt to control the headlines.

So while the expenses bombs keep dropping all MPs will cower in their Anderson shelters, hugging each other close until normal service is resumed.

The Rise and Fall of the Career Politician

There have been many slings and arrows aimed at politicians in Britain recently, some unjustly but many with legitimate justification. The exposition of MP's expenses and the usurping of the Michael Martian, the House of Commons' Speaker, has resulted in a rightful perception that most politicians have their proverbial snouts in the expenses trough.

However, for all the moat cleaning, mock Tudor beam installing and HobNob eating MPs, the expenses issue has distracted public gaze form a more serious, underlying problem - the rise of a very slippery beast - the 'Career Politician'.

The 'Career Politician' can be identified in a number of ways:

• Being planted into a constituency that they have very little knowledge of or affiliation with.
  
• Always voting with their Party, even when their conscience dictates otherwise.
• Asking questions in PMQs that are specifically designed to deflect attention away from more important issues.
• Complaining that the MPs salary is not adequate, whilst claiming the full expenses amount.
• And, most importantly, standing for election as a career move as opposed to a genuine belief that they can legitimately attempt to improve their constituency by their candidature.

The 'Career Politician' adds very little to the democratic political process in the UK today, by continually following the party whip they are depriving their electorate of true representation. Since MPs in government will often vote according to party policies as opposed to what ultimately in the interest of their constituency.

It maybe wishful to think that politicians will run for Parliament as individuals, rather than a political Party product, but it is a shame that more people can name and recognise the perennial backbencher Dennis Skinner than the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell. Parliament as an institution is only as strong as its current occupants, which is why it is too readily perceived as weak and ineffectual in this current climate. The 'Career Politician' is in danger of disenfranchising whole sections of the population by becoming 'faceless' advocates of a Parliamentary system that few trust.

It is too simple to get misty eyed at the Parliaments of the past, the firebrand speeches, the presence of characters and ideology, but this system was deeply flawed too. The Parliamentary system lacked any genuine representation or transparency and corruption was rife, this is not a system that would attract too many advocates in this present time.

Therefore it is to the future that people should look, a system developed around the concept of a fair wage for all MPs with transparent (albeit minimal) expense account, set by a independent authority. Furthermore, it is vital that to curtail the rise of the 'Career Politician' that the local party in the constituency decides the Parliamentary candidate independently of the national party. This will hopefully allow the MP to become more representative of their constituency and signal the end of the 'Career Politician'.