Events | 2009.06.02
A new politics: Electoral reform | David Cameron
We\'ll consider fixed-term parliaments, but not proportional representation, as many in the Guardian series have demanded
We also need to look seriously at the immense power prime ministers wield through their ability to call an election whenever they want. I know there are strong political and moral arguments against fixed-term parliaments. Political – because there\'s nothing worse than a lame-duck government with a tiny majority limping on for years. And moral – because when a prime minister has gone into an election and won it promising to serve a full term, but then hands over to an unelected leader halfway through, the people deserve an election as soon as possible. These arguments are of course particularly relevant today. But I believe the arguments for fixed-term parliaments are strengthening too. If we want parliament to be a real engine of accountability, we need to show it\'s not just the creature of the executive. That\'s why a Conservative government will seriously consider the option of fixed-term parliaments when there\'s a majority government.
But it\'s also why a Conservative government will not consider introducing proportional representation, as many participants in A New Politics have demanded. The principle underlying all the political reforms a Conservative government would make is the progressive principle of redistributing power and control from the powerful to the powerless. PR would actually move us in the opposite direction, which is why I\'m so surprised it\'s still on the wish-list of progressive reformers. Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites. Instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals. How is that going to deliver transparency and trust?
But the tragic truth today is that no matter how much we strengthen parliament or hold government to account, there will still be forces at work in our country that are completely unaccountable to the people of Britain – people and organisations that have huge power and control over our daily lives and yet which no citizen can actually get at. Almost half the regulations affecting our businesses come from the EU. And since the advent of the Human Rights Act, judges are increasingly making our laws. The EU and the judges – neither of them accountable to British citizens – have taken too much power over issues that are contested aspects of public policy, and which should therefore be settled in the realm of democratic politics.
It\'s no wonder people feel so disillusioned with politics and parliament when they see so many big decisions that affect their lives being made somewhere else. So a progressive reform agenda demands that we redistribute power from the EU to Britain, and from judges to the people.
We will therefore hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty; pass a law requiring a referendum to approve any further transfers of power to the EU; negotiate the return of powers, and require far more detailed scrutiny in parliament of EU legislation, regulation and spending. And we will introduce a British bill of rights to strengthen our liberties, spell out the extent and limit of rights more clearly, and ensure proper democratic accountability over the creation of any new rights.
But when it comes to lack of accountability, no one and nothing beats the quangos. Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations. Their name is as dire as their impact on our society. There are over 500 of these things in Britain, whose power and influence can be seen everywhere. But aren\'t serious political issues too important to be left to unaccountable quangos?
Everything that I have spoken about – redistributing power to people, and reinstating accountability in our politics – all of it will, I hope, help get more people involved in politics and public policy, and help end that despairing sense of powerlessness that pervades our society. But there\'s one more item on the agenda: transparency.
Ask most people where politics happens and they\'d paint a picture of tight-knit tribes making important decisions in wood-panelled rooms, speaking a strange language. If we want people to have faith and get involved, we need to defeat this impression by opening politics up: making everything transparent, accessible – and human. And the starting point for reform should be a near-total transparency of the political and governing elite, so people can see what\'s being done in their name.
Transparency tears down the hiding places for sleaze, overspending and corruption. Soon enough all MPs\' expenses are going to be published online for everyone to see: I and the rest of the shadow cabinet are already doing it. And if we win the next election, we\'re going to do the same for all other public servants earning over £150,000. Just imagine the effect that an army of armchair auditors is going to have on those expense claims.
Indeed, the promise of public scrutiny is going to have a powerful effect on over-spending of any variety. A Conservative government will put all national spending over £25,000 online for everyone to see, so citizens can hold the government to account for how their tax money is being spent. And we will extend this principle of transparency to every nook and cranny of politics and public life, because it\'s one of the quickest and easiest ways to transfer power to the powerless and prevent waste, exploitation and abuse.
That\'s why all our Conservative candidates for the European parliament have signed a pledge setting out new standards of transparency and ethical behaviour. All Conservative MEPs elected next week will publish online a breakdown of all office costs; details of all travel; the names of each member of staff they employ; and details of all meetings with businesses, lobbyists and other interest groups.
But transparency isn\'t just about cleaning up politics, it\'s also about opening up politics. Right now a tiny percentage of the population crafts legislation that will apply to 100% of the population. This locks out countless people across the country whose expertise could help. So why not invite them in on the process? We\'ll create a right of initiative nationally, where if you collect enough signatures you can get your proposals debated in the House of Commons and become law. And we\'ll open up the legislative process in other ways too.
David Cameron will be giving a speech on reforming government today at the Open University in Milton Keynes
This is the third part of an article the Conservative leader has written to accompany that speech. The article has been divided into four simultaneously published parts to enable readers to post comments on the threads
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]/david-cameron-a-new-politics1
