Fixing Britain's Political Grid

Cast your minds back to May 3rd 2009. This was the first day of the so-called "Expenses-gate" when the lights across Westminster went out in Britain's worst ever political blackout and stayed off for weeks.

Since then we have heard numerous platitudes, various diagnoses and a Parliamentary Standards Act aimed at "restoring public faith and confidence in the system".

Yet none of this will fix Britain's political grid in the long-term. There is only one thing worse than bad policies and bad legislation. That is knee jerk policy-making and legislating. The Parliamentary Standards Act was a classic example of the bar being put on the stable door after the horse has bolted, and a rotten bar at that.

Those men and women who govern us need to realise that we do not restore public trust and confidence in the system by creating a culture of mistrust and confidence complex in the corridors of Parliament itself. That is the danger we face.

The recess is a prime example of where meaningful reform can be executed. The propagandistic move by organisations such as 38 degrees has the reverse effect to that which they are seeking. Our MPs should not be chained to the Green Benches for 365 days of the year. But nor, should they not be sitting for 82 days of the year.

A balance needs to be struck. MPs should be able to scrutinise the programme presented by the government for longer than they currently are. The Parliamentary Standards Act was a prime example of this. The Bill was commended to the House and reached Royal Assent within 7 days. That is an absurdly short turnaround time for such an important piece of legislation.

This has to be changed. Reducing the length of the recess would mean that we can put an end to late sittings and late votes.

At the same time there should be more Opposition Days. More time should be given to Private Member's Bills. PMQ's should be extended to an hour on a Wednesday. This would allow more backbench MPs (who are the backbone of the Legislature) the chance to question and indeed challenge the Executive.

There should be a minimum attendance rate introduced for MPs. If you have ever watched the five minutes after an important vote (or indeed PMQ's) you will have seen how quickly the chamber empties. That cannot be good for our democracy. Of course one of the reasons the chamber may empty so quickly is that backbench MPs feel sidelined. So a "dual carriageway" policy needs to be invented and implemented.

In terms of MP's salaries it is quite simply wrong for our MPs to have to hang around the salary bin. Their salaries should be increased by 50% and all expenses abolished. MPs should have an office supplement of £10,000 and that should be the end of it. Salaries and the office supplement should be increased commensurately for Shadow Cabinet members, Cabinet members and Ministers.

Whatever structural changes are made to the House of Lords in the medium to long term, we cannot allow Secretaries of State (other than the Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Chancellor) to be from the Red Benches. We did not build in House of Commons supremacy in the early 20th century just for it to be reversed a century on.

Above all those who govern us should not be brow beaten into forgetting that they have much to be proud of. Lives have been been vastly and practically improved over the decades. We must not lose sight of that light in the current darkness.

If we do we shall rue the day.