Our system of government is broken - it’s time for change
As Rishi Sunak ends his first month as Prime Minister, the farce that is the British government continues to dominate world headlines. We are a nation led by the loser in a leadership contest.
What have we become?
If the past year has taught us anything it is that the current system of voting people into power does not work – once they are there, we cannot easily remove them. We did not vote for this leader, nor the Cabinet he has formed, nor the policies he stands for.
Any mandate is long gone.
Better governance is needed, and I for one am eagerly anticipating the Parliamentary debate on Tuesday secured by MP for East Leeds Richard Burgon, on making the constitutional changes needed to allow the public to directly call a General Election when the vast majority have lost faith in the Government.
As Burgon says: "That there's no mechanism for people to do this is a scar on our democracy."
I am part of the politically impartial think tank Better Government and we work to challenge political protocol in the UK. We produce white papers to lobby Parliament to make MPs more accountable to their constituents.
In any regular job you will be assessed every six months or so. You are subject to a probationary period, and you lose your job if you do not fulfil requirements. So why doesn't this apply to those that have the responsibility of running our country? Why are they allowed to continue unaccountable for up to five years, regardless of how they perform?
This has to change.
General elections should be held every four years
We believe MPs from all parties should be assessed every six months, just like an employee would be, as to how they are performing.
Key points of our Better Governance White Paper, published this month, include experimenting with decentralising decision-making from London, disrupting the influence of lobby groups and private enterprises over Parliament, and moving towards digital voting.
British citizens need to 'take back control' from politicians, and political party members who get to decide who is the next PM, without accounting for public opinion.
We believe in reducing the election period from five yearly to four because while there are ways of recalling an MP it is a very expensive and arduous process.
Multiple constituents in West Suffolk have expressed a desire for a by-election to oust sitting MP Matt Hancock who is currently in Australia picking up a fee for appearing in a reality TV show.
We need to find a balance between short feedback loops and providing enough runway to a government to effect change.
MPs must be truly objective and work in the best interests of their electorate.
We believe there needs to be a mechanism for citizens to be directly engaged with their MPs in an effective and simple way to let our MPs know which way their electorate want them to vote on specific legislations in parliament. Thereby letting our desires be known before the fact and not after it.
The desires and will of the people are frequently ignored. For example, millions of people marched against war in Iraq, but the government went ahead anyway. Ditto tuition fees, and more recently fracking!
The current system is open to abuse by lobbyists and interest groups. This needs to change so MPs are truly objective and work in the best interests of their electorate.
The system needs a change, and I for one will be watching closely when Burgon brings this to Parliament today.
Something has to change, and I sincerely hope that today's Parliamentary debate gets the ball, finally, rolling.
