Trust in politics and politicians has been pounded in recent decades. Politics is punch drunk from wave after wave of embarrassing revelations.
The expenses scandal, politicians’ weakness for overpromising and underdelivering, worries about the undue influence exerted by big donors, scandals in Westminster over lobbying, sexual misconduct, misleading Parliament and most recently freebiegate, these have all contributed to record low levels of confidence in elected officials.
No single measure is likely to reverse this tide of disgruntlement and disillusion or stem the belief, held by a significant minority, that only a ‘strong man’, who will brush aside democratic guardrails and dismantle institutions, can save the nation.
But could the implementation of a comprehensive package, pulling in the best proposals from the thought-provoking book “Can Parliament Take Back Control?” (by Nick Harvey and Paul Tyler), the Institute for Government, the Electoral Commission, the Law Commission, the Governance Project, the Committee on Standards in Public Life and others, foster a period of sustained democratic renewal.
The democratic integrity white paper we are publishing sets out what some of the components could look like.
The list is not exhaustive. Some may be flawed. Some cherished initiatives might be missing. Others could be too radical or too incrementalist depending on the speed with which citizens want to proceed.
They range from measures to clean up MPs’ act with an enforceable job description, limits on the value of freebies MPs can accept, restrictions on second/third and fourth jobs; to a clampdown on foreign funding in politics complemented by steps to increase small, individual, domestically-sourced donations to the political parties.
For people particularly focused on strengthening parliament’s role vis a vis a dominant Executive, steps to introduce a House Business Committee and confirmatory hearings for Secretaries of State will appeal. As will a requirement to issue Green and White Papers for consultation and to put an end to skeleton bills and Henry VIII clauses.
Anyone interested in ethics and integrity will welcome plans to strengthen the powers of the regulators.
Our purpose in publishing the paper will be to start a conversation about which of these steps, and others people may suggest, can help restore our belief in democracy.
We hope the White Paper, whilst not a panacea, will kick off a discussion about manageable, affordable reforms, which, if put into practice, would start to make us feel good about our democracy again.
Join us on Thursday 5th December at 6:00pm, and contribute your ideas and take part in a consultation over the paper’s 54 recommendations.
