Beware the PM, 'ribeye' Brown for he shall destroy the system

There is something that has been worrying me since this whole MP’s expense scandal broke. Naturally it has worried me to the edge of reasonableness and rage is beginning to manifest itself within me so here it is…

I have become deeply concerned that the scandal is going to be used by a government…no…a man who is desperate, as an excuse to introduce sweeping constitutional reforms to the political system of this country. This worries me on so many levels.

Firstly, the only problem I can see with “the system” which has worked perfectly well for hundreds of years, is the relatively recent introduction of the expenses system. There is nothing wrong with the political system other than that. Reform expenses…job done.

Secondly, these constitutional reforms are being proposed in a little less than one month since the expenses scandal broke in the press. There is in my mind, absolutely no way that Gordon Brown has been able to reflect upon, examine and find a fix for the political system in such a short period of time. This leads me to ponder the possibility that any reforms he proposes would have been on his agenda prior to the scandal and were not created and never intended to fix the problem they purport to be a fix for. Instead these have been either dusted off or brought forward as a retaliatory measure to fix a distantly related problem.

It has become more evident in recent years that retaliatory political action is inevitably usually the wrong action. The war in Iraq and the ‘war on terror’ are perfect examples of the ‘hit back first, ask questions later’ approach that we have put up with as a nation for the last ten years and prove my point succinctly. What we know about these examples is that we were effectively lied to in order to justify them. We also now know with hindsight that the government’s knee-jerk reaction led to intensified difficulties in other areas and also created additional problems both in the UK and the rest of the world.

Like the ‘war on terror’ and war in Iraq, the government felt that it was under a great deal of pressure from the public where in fact most of the pressure actually came from the media. More so than Tony Blair it appears, this government and in particular, Gordon Brown seems obsessed with achieving the right media image. Since gaining power, he has cooked ideas like one would a good steak, 3 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other.

He is not a decisive man and seems to be more concerned with what the papers say about him and whether he is seen to be doing the popular thing than he is in doing the right thing. He’s not even consistent in this though…if he were to do the popular thing then he would surely step down and call a general election (although this would also be the right thing to do so a paradox exists).

Finally the most concerning thing of all is that this man who wants do bring in these huge constitutional reforms is the man who brought in reforms to the pension system and then the whole of the financial system in the UK. The reforms he made both resulted in collapse and unmitigated disaster that has left us with the prospect of paying for his mistakes for generations to come.

Given his and his government’s previous record, should we even trust this man to tinker with our toasters let alone with our political system? The problem is that we have no choice it seems because he is intent on hanging on to power until the absolute bitter end…and that makes me mad!!!

BROWN BRANDED ‘THE LATE REFORMER’ OVER PARLIAMENT PLANS

Speaking following the Prime Minister’s statement on democratic reform, SNP Constitutional Affairs spokesperson Pete Wishart MP branded Gordon Brown as the ‘late reformer’ and repeated calls for a General Election as the first step towards restoring trust and confidence in the Westminster parliament.

Mr Wishart said:

“Gordon Brown is not so much the great reformer as he is the late reformer. He has had twelve years to make proposals for reform but has waited until his government is on the ropes and his party is in meltdown before suddenly sparking into action.

“Real electoral reform at Westminster is long overdue, but we first need a General Election so that we have a House of Commons that commands trust.

“This debate comes at a crucial moment for Westminster , and in the rush by the UK parties to bring forward proposals for reform, they would do well to look to the model of the Scottish Parliament. Most ideas being suggested to reform Westminster have been up and running at Holyrood for ten years – fixed terms, PR, a strong committee system, and total disclosure and transparency of expenses.

“Until Scotland secures independence, Holyrood may have fewer powers than Westminster , but it is abundantly clear that the Scottish Parliament provides the gold standard in setting new standards of democracy.”

Plaid MPs: Brown needs democratic vote on electoral reform

Plaid Cymru MPs have commented on the announcement that Gordon Brown is this today set to announce proposals for House of Commons electoral reform.

The Prime Minister will make a statement prior to Plaid Cymru and SNP debate calling for the dissolution of Parliament.

Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Elfyn Llwyd MP said:

“I was very encouraged by Mr Brown’s initial speeches about these matters when he was first in post as Prime Minister but disappointed by the stalling of implementing these changes. I hope that there will be now be a greater impetus to get things moving.

“It is very fitting that Gordon Brown should time his announcement before the Plaid and SNP motion – one that if successful would lead to an immediate General Election.

“Plaid recently called for a ‘democracy day’ to address a wide range of matters. Together with our debate today, and with the Prime Minister’s announcements, we could have a true, meaningful and informed debate – which could then lead to a ‘democracy day’ referendum.

“Such a referendum could be held on the day of the next General Election, and would give the public a say on important democratic issues, such as: the composition of the House of Lords, the present voting system, curtailing the power of the Whips, whether they are satisfied with Royal prerogative, calling for a fixed term parliament, to name a few.

“Such reforms need to be implemented through an inclusive decision-making process and open to wider discussion.

“Even if we lose the vote tonight, we will have sparked a debate about the wider constitutional issues. Real electoral and expenses reform at Westminster is long overdue, but by addressing these measures we can begin to rebuild the public’s trust.”