Parliament-power on Meacher wish-list

MICHAEL Meacher has called for more reforms of Parliament to put an end to the perception that it is nothing more than a glorified talking shop.

The Oldham West and Royton MP said measures introduced in the wake of the expenses scandal do not go far enough.

Parliament decided that the only way to strengthen its key role in holding the Government to account was to elect chairmen and members of all select committees instead of leaving it up to the whips, and set up a backbench business committee to regain some control over the agenda in the Commons.

Mr Meacher said: “Since the aim is to take back accountability this can only be the beginning.”

The veteran MP wants wider scrutiny of government legislation. He proposes that experts are called in to give evidence in the pre-legislative stage and then for the bill to be considered by a small group of MPs.

Mr Meacher added: “There is still a culture of regarding parliament as a talking shop and a rubber stamp for decisions already made within the Government.

“One recent example was the fateful decision to impose a no-fly zone on Libya where Parliament had no opportunity to debate the issue before it was a fait-accompli.

“Another reflection of Parliament’s perceived passivity is the way select committee reports, however forceful their analysis or their impact in potentially breaking the mould, are simply left to gather dust. The most important ones at least should be debated and voted on.” In addition, Mr Meacher wants top appointments across the public sector to be ratified by the relevant Commons committee. As it stands, the positions are subject to approval of Number 10.

Mr Meacher also hit out at David Cameron about increasing levels of borrowing. He questioned why given that private borrowing was falling at the last election the Government plans to ramp it up by half-a-trillion pounds to a total of more than £2 trillion by 2015.

In response, the Prime Minister said: “What the Government is doing is getting control of Government borrowing-that was the real crisis at the last election. This is an important point to make, particularly on a day when we read about Portugal going for an enormous bail-out.”