British so-called democracy took another body blow this week from those who are supposed to defend it. MPs voted by a colossal majority to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act.
The MPs, dubbed in a Sunday Times editorial "a dishonourable alliance of Labour MPs, ministers and Conservative backbenchers", claim to have done this in order to safeguard the privacy of constituents who write to them, but this is rubbish and they know it. Current data protection legislation is adequate to that task. The only people who took a stand against the bill were the Lib-Dems, in a rare display of backbone. According to Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, the information commissioner has not received a single complaint from an MP's constituent about the inappropriate release of correspondence, and the Commons' library has no records of such complaints.
No, what they're really about is hiding details of their own financial dealings. They don't want us snooping into their expenses claims, or asking if they really need all those pretty secretaries (or, in John Prescott's case, plain ones) and all that lavish hospitality.
That Gordon Broon neglected to instruct his backbenchers not to support the private member's bill is shameful, but hardly surprising. The government have been whining about the expense of responding to freedom of information requests ever since the rules were introduced, and are still busy trying to emasculate them - new restrictions proposed by Lord Falconer are awaiting Broon's approval.
David Maclean, the Conservative MP for Penrith and Borders who authored the new bill, last year claimed a total of £129,700 in Commons allowances - around the average figure for MPs - on top of his £59,000 basic salary. The sum included £6,969 for motoring and £8,561 for train travel. It also included £3,300 for a quad bike: he has MS and finds it better than a mobility scooter on those occasions when he has to cover the rough ground that covers much of his constituency.
On the face of it this sounds fair enough, although one wonders just how essential are his many visits to agricultural shows, sheep-dog trials and the like. His suggestion to the press that he needs it because he has the biggest constituency in the country isn't going to cut much ice unless he travels the length and breadth of it on the quad-bike which is highly unlikely - they're not exactly the last word in speed and comfort on the open road, are they? And what about MPs who represent coastal constituencies - will they be claiming yachts or speed-boats on expenses? Or those whose patch includes islands, like the Western Isles? I suppose they'll be wanting a free helicopter? Welsh hill-farmers must be beside themselves. The fact is that a hell of a lot of us either live in places, or have jobs in places, that make 4x4s, motocross bikes or boats entirely practical, but we don't get them paid for with public money. We're sorry the man's got MS, really we are, but … is David Blunkett's guide-dog a legitimate parliamentary expense?
Come the next election, when we all find (as The GOS did in the recent local elections) that we can't in all conscience vote for any of the candidates because we know damn well they're all arrogant, greedy, self-seeking, dishonest and more interested in serving their own careers than their constituents, when the turnout reaches an all-time low and we get yet another government we didn't want, don't trust and that in its turn regards us with contempt, whose fault will it be?
Oh yes, there'll be many column inches in the papers and endless interviews on the radio telling us that we aren't taking the interest in politics that we should. We'll be told that our apathy just opens the door to extremists. We'll be reminded of the old saying that people get the governments they deserve.
But the fact is we don't have the government we deserve - we don't even get the government we vote for: in the last election Labour romped home with not quite 41% of the votes which means 59% of us voted against them, and the same has been true of every election since WW2 (see here). What we have - and this applies at all levels from the Parish Council to the EU - is what can at best be called "quasi-democratic dictatorship". The last time real democracy was seen effectively working in this country was when Margaret Thatcher was forced by violent demonstrations to scrap the poll tax, and I confidently expect that the next time will be when civil disobedience brings an end to the government's plans for ID cards and road pricing. The GOS will be in the front line, if nursey will let him. He may even take his teeth out first.
We shall all watch with great interest the future of politics on Scotland, where the Scottish nationalists will be ruling in a minority government.
Westminster governments are all minority governments, of course, as the "first past the post" guarantees that any government will have been elected by a minority of the electorate. This doesn't stop the ruling party from using its weight in the House of Commons to ride rough-shod over the will, the wishes and the interests of the electorate as we have seen throughout the presidency of Tony "Straight Kinda Guy" Bliar.
What Alex Salmond has, on the other hand, is a real minority government, which means that on every single issue he will have to persuade others in the Scottish Parilament that what he wants to do is right, and that they should support him. If he can't do that, his measures won't go through.
Fascinating prospect. Sounds suspiciously like proper democracy to me …
Oh yes, and in case you didn't properly register the figures above, let me repeat them: David Maclean claimed £129,700 in Commons allowances last year on top of his £59,000 basic salary. It is claimed that this is an average figure for all MPs. The sum included £6,969 for motoring and £8,561 for train travel.
Hmm … £6,969 for motoring? What's he driving, a Chieftain tank? The GOS drives a small diesel hatchback these days, and this amount of money would take him 104,000 miles, or four times round the equator. That's each year.
Oh, and the hatchback cost about the same as David Maclean's quad-bike, but The GOS had to pay for it himself.
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