| June 09 |
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I can hardly write a column and ignore the thousands of newspaper pages that have been devoted to such a huge story over the last month.
No, I am not referring to the shock defeat of Susan Boyle by Diversity in the final of Britain’s Got Talent. Mind you, there was certainly far more enthusiasm for voting in that election than in the European ones.
I am of course referring to the revelation on MPs expenses. Maybe we should rename our general election Britain’s Got Political Talent with voting taking place by text – it would certainly improve the turnout.
The standing of MPs and Parliament has taken a battering over the last month. In some cases this criticism has been well deserved and for all MPs, myself included, we must shoulder the blame for a system that has been in operation for over 20 years but has allowed abuses to take place that are incomprehensible to most people. It is true that changes have already been made.
The system under which the claims of moats, swimming pool repairs, non existent mortgages and duck houses were made should not make these possible now.
But the changes do not go far enough and those MPs who supported freedom of information and changes to the allowances over the years were probably not aware, as I was not, just how appalling some of the claims had been. In respect of my own claims, I have set out my case in this magazine and on my website www.claire-ward.org.uk.
The public are understandably angry and although some of the intense heat may subside, the real challenge for Parliament and all political parties is to restore confidence in our democracy and our politics.
In my view, the overwhelming majority of people from all parties go into local or national politics because they want to play a part in improving our society.
Whether it is getting involved in the local parish council or becoming an MP, most want to contribute to building a better community. It’s what public service is all about.
So now is the time to get the public engaged in a real debate about how we run our country at every level.
How do we encourage people from all walks of life and all stages of life to be involved in shaping policy?
Is it time for MPs to be banned from taking any outside work or employment? Should we make our committees far stronger so that they can challenge government ministers and do the job that the media have taken on themselves in recent years? Should we reduce the age of voting to 16 and make it compulsory to vote?
Surely it is time that MPs were given a job description so that there was some common basis of operation, not just on how each of us feels we should do the job.
I would be interested to hear readers’ views and perhaps all the parties can start to take on board some of the ideas.
No party has a clear conscience on what has happened but we can all take responsibility for getting the future right and putting the public at the heart of public service.
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