The Conservatives Democracy Task Force, led by TRG President Rt Hon Ken Clarke MP, has launched a broadside attack on Tony Blair’s “sofa-style” government.
The attack comes as part of a report published by the Task Force that calls for a new ministerial code of conduct. The aim is to prevent further moves towards a Presidential-style system and a return to cabinet government.
Key among the proposals are:
-New ministerial code to clarify main responsibilities of the prime minister and secretaries of state
-Halving the number of special advisors and reforms to ensure the civil service is truly independent
-New rules on parliamentary decision making over decisions to go to war
The Democracy Task Force has previously called on the role of Scottish MP’s to be limited at Westminster by preventing them from voting on England-only issues.
Despite the name of the Tory “Reform” Group, and despite the fact that I am indeed its Chairman, I have been sceptical of some of the Conservative Party’s suggestions for reform of late. I have reservations about the move to a fully elected House of Lords and about the introduction of state aid for political parties.
But the recommendations by the Democracy Task Force are all truly worthy of support in all their dimensions: philosophical, moral and practical. Blair has turned the idea of parliamentary democracy at Westminster into a farce. Sadly, it looks like we will now have to introduce a set of rules to correct this anti-democratic trend now that Blair has trampled over the conventions that had served so well in the past.
Update – 28 March
There is an entertaining debate on this subject emerging on Iain Dale’s blog. Click here for more.
One idea I think the Democracy Task Force should consider is requiring an Act of
Parliament to be passed if the governmnet wants to create new government departments and
split existing ones!
The advantage of the current system is that it provides the government of the day with flexibility to re-organise the civil service machinery to suit their priorities. However,
the disadvantge of this is that the process can be rushed and not thought through properly
(6 weeks to set up a brand new ministry)!
This would be similar to the US where an Act of Congress is required to set up a new government department. In Britain it would allow legislators, key stakeholders,
members of the public etc to discuss the implications of creating a new department and
would allow civil servants a chance to plan the establishment properly.
Comment by Lee Summers — 2 April, 2007 @ 9:41 am
Mr Clarke
I listened with interest to your party conference speech and I’ve just read the ‘Trust in Politics’ paper that you and your colleagues have prepared.
I must congratulate you for addressing, for the first time that I’ve seen, the issues that are of real concern to the average punter – dirty politics,sleaze, deceipt and corruption! I hope the conservative party are serious about cleaning up politics and do not lapse into old ways once in power. You know what they say – power corrupts!
One of my concerns would be – how does government ensure that the bodies responsible for ensuring that best practice is upheld, are impartial – for example who monitors the monitors. How many times have we seen matters referred to this or that body in the past, only to be faced with a complete and utter whitewash.
A step in the right direction, I hope for the rest of us that you mean what you say!
GLJ
Comment by Gwyn Jones — 16 January, 2008 @ 5:08 pm