‘My concern is that anybody can be accused of something and be simply “knocked out”’, he tells GB News.
This is not an issue we should ignore, especially after last Wednesday’s chaos in Parliament. But the language of some Conservative MPs has been hyperbolic and wrong.
Points of parliamentary procedure may seem arcane to journalists and the public, but their fair enforcement is vital to the proper functioning of our democracy.
More are reportedly saying that they will back a no-confidence vote if Sir Lindsay Hoyle doesn’t indicate that he’s stepping down. It would be quite something if his manoeuvre to get Starmer out of a tough spot ended up inflicting fresh dissension on the Conservatives.
Who decides which “ordinary people” get a hearing? Which studies are examined? Without parties or partisanship, what prevents a handful of dominant individuals railroading the others into a false consensus?
So-called real recall had much to commend it over the version we got, which concentrates power with the parliamentary authorities. But it too could have been used to curb the independence of MPs.
The electorate is disillusioned. It does not think much of politicians. When it hears accusations that one side or other is corrupt or dishonest or on the side of terrorists or paedophiles, the whole system gets contaminated.
The sovereignty of Parliament, as the representative of the people, has been eroded, and power handed to an increasingly assertive bureaucracy.
“I think every single one of us as an MP could give you a list of death threats and threats of attack that we receive on pretty much a weekly basis.”
The MP for Finchley and Golders Green describes the pattern of abuse that has led him to announce his intention to resign from Parliament at the general election.
However, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s demand for a mere Commons vote on every treaty is a poor substitute for the real, much less fashionable solution.
Such “culprits” may exist, but the issue looks much more like one of systemic failures. We need to address those issues if we want to ensure and sustain fairness and equality of arms in our criminal justice system.
When I raised these issues in the summer of last year, I was shouted down. But MPs should be encouraged to show political curiosity, share their passion and advance and test current thinking.
Fail to address the challenge head-on, and conservatives will find that our constitution continues to evolve away from its roots, each new Labour government bringing in new measures to ‘modernise’ our ‘anachronistic’ system.
New research for British Future finds a broad consensus that if you want to deem Rwanda safe, you first have to check that it is.