Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

The Liberal Democrats are not doing well on Constitutional Reform. They botched the campaign on the A vote and now are promoting a peculiar notion of an elected House of Lords through the Coalition, of which they remain fractious members. The proposal to elect hundreds of Lords for single fifteen year terms is an unusual form of democracy, with successful candidates looking decidedly mouldy towards the end of their term, with a very weak link to public opinion.

This blog would prefer one Lord for every county in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and one for the capitals of each country, London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. This would work out at one hundred or so and would leave room for one or two additions. If one third were elected for six year terms every two years, a good compromise between democratic legitimacy and continuity would result.

The bodge on offer at the moment is not what the supporters of the Liberal Democrats thought they would get. Their party’s leadership explains compromise is the price of coalition. If they continue to disappoint their supporters with  flagrantly broken promises or fudged compromises, they will find they will have none left. The Tories have, once again outplayed their Lib Dem partners, by offering a constitutional deal which nobody in their right minds should support.

The Coalition made a very good beginning. It is heading for a sad end. Labour will be the beneficiary.

All the politicians want an inquiry into banking, the form of which is in dispute. This blog will therefore not comment on the specifics, but on the principle.

It has become a feature of modern government that ineptitude is an integral component. This is because the quality of politicians has fallen to such a low ebb. The fall-back for controversy is the Public Inquiry led by a judge, which takes painstaking evidence over months and months. When it has finally sifted through the millions of words, the Report is published and recommendations made. By this time the world and especially the modern digital world, has moved on. For example we still await the findings of Chilcot, although few ordinary folk recall why it was set up.

The government, still in the grip of its mid-term blues, proposes a Parliamentary Inquiry over the LIBOR fallout led by the Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, but composed of a broader membership, including peers. There is some confusion at Westminster about its status in the wider scheme of parliamentary things. What is needed is a permanent structure for this kind of investigation which is quicker and much less expensive than the quasi courts of the big Public Inquiries. Essentially the requirement is for inquiries in public.

The Parliamentary Select Committees provide the ideal vehicle at reasonable cost. They command increasing respect, are held in public and are largely bi-partisan. What is needed is for them to be able to examine witnesses under oath. Add that and a few minor powers and you have a ready and coherent response to controversy, which is both timely and cost effective. Because all the members of such committees are elected MPs, there is a welcome connection with voters, lacking in so much of our fabric of State.