MP'S EXPENSES YOUR right to know how MPs and Peers spend YOUR money is being subverted by MPs and the Government! VOTE NOW FOR AN ONLINE REGISTER OF MP'S EXPENSES In reality the Bill is nothing less than a blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 of both the House of Commons and The House of Lords, so placing most aspects of the workings of Parliament beyond scrutiny of the Press and the Public. The effect of the Bill, if it finally passes into law, will be to prevent any person from finding out anything about the Houses of Parliament, its operation and its costs . One particular thing which has been singled out, and which critics of the Bill say actually lies behind it, is that the Bill would prevent any information concerning MPs and Peer's expenses from being made public. Recently detailed material about how individual MPs spent YOUR money was published and it was quite obvious that MPs did not like the exercise at all, bringing as it did uncomfortable questions seeking the justification of high-spending MPs for their apparent profligacy. Far more significantly, however, out of 13 Government Whips, 11 voted during various divisions on the Bill, of whom all were in favour of the Bill. These were Jacqui Smith (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip) Alan Campbell, Claire Ward, David Watts, Frank Roy (Lords Commissioner), Liz Blackman, Ian Cawsey, Michael Foster, Huw Iranca-Davies, Stephen McCabe and Jonathon Shaw (Assistant Whips). At Third Reading, of the 76 Labour supporters of the Bill, no fewer than 36 were members of the government (including Parliamentary Private Secretaries). Labour made up 76 of the Bill’s 95 supporters, the Tories providing the rest. Nine of those voting in favour of the Bill were at this stage Government Whips (out of a total of thirteen in the Government Whips Office). What conclusion might one draw from these facts? Firstly it is the presence in the ‘Aye’ lobby of nearly all the Government Whips which catches the eye. Why should so many of them have a sudden concern for the sanctity of member’s correspondence? Is it a coincidence that the promoter of the Bill just happens once to have been the Conservative Chief Whip? These facts give a very strong whiff that this Bill is in fact a creature of the government, if not by original inspiration, then by de facto adoption. The enthusiasm of the Government’s Whips for this exercise is, surely, the clue to this Bill’s true godparents. The only reasonable inference to be drawn from these facts is that this is a de facto Government Bill in all but name. This is a shabby little Bill being promoted for disgraceful and dishonourable motives. If the new Prime Minister and David Cameron wish to be seen as being serious about the concept of ‘open government’, then it is incumbent upon them to demonstrate their commitment by making an immediate and strong call for all their supporters to oppose this Bill. If they fail to make such a call, then we shall all know that they support this tawdry little Bill and that, in truth, they are, whenever they talk of ‘open’ government, being utterly hypocritical. Politicians in this country have managed in recent years to bring their reputation down to something on a par with second-hand car salesmen and spivs. This Bill must surely have damaged their reputation further. The time has come to bring them up sharp. Since last week there has been substantial press and other condemnation of the Bill and suggestions that Gordon Brown may now try to kill the Bill. Sadly many people do not trust such promises, therefore the public must act to send Parliament a message that it wants complete openness concerning their expenses. In Scotland an Online Register of MSP's expenses already exists and operates without fuss. To view the MSP's online Register see The Scottish Parliaments Webstie @ http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/MSPAllowances/searchGuidance.htm Please visit the ePetition and signify your support for it. FOR Labour Graham Allen, Janet Anderson, Adrian Bailey, Sir Stuart Bell, Clive Betts, Liz Blackman, Nicholas Brown, Colin Burgon, David Cairns, Alan Campbell, Ronnie Campbell, David Clelland, Harry Cohen, Wayne David, Parmjit Dhanda, Brian H. Donohoe, Frank Doran, Jim Dowd, Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle, Clive Efford, Jim Fitzpatrick, Caroline Flint, Michael Foster (Worcester), Mike Hall, Tom Harris, Doug Henderson,John Heppell, Keith Hill, Huw Irranca-Davies, Kevan Jones, Martyn Jones, Fraser Kemp, David Lammy, Bob Laxton, Tom Levitt, Ivan Lewis, Tony Lloyd, Khalid Mahmood, David Marshall, Thomas McAvoy, Steve McCabe, Ian McCartney, John McFall, Shona McIsaac, Tony McNulty, Gillian Merron, Alun Michael, Laura Moffat, Elliot Morley, George Mudie, Meg Munn, Denis Murphy, James Plaskitt, Stephen Pound, Ken Purchase, John Robertson, Frank Roy, Joan Ryan, Martin Salter, Jonathon Shaw, Jim Sheridan, Siôn Simon, Angela C. Smith (Sheffield, Hillsborough), Anne Snelgrove, John Spellar, Ian Stewart, Mark Tami, Dari Taylor, Gareth Thomas, Dr. Desmond Turner, Claire Ward, Tom Watson, Dave Watts, Malcolm Wicks, Phil Woolas, David Wright, Conservative Bob Ainsworth, Peter Atkinson, Simon Burns, Sir John Butterfill, James Duddridge, Tobias Ellwood, Julie Kirkbride, Greg Knight, Dr Julian Lewis David Maclean, Robert Neill, Andrew Pelling Mark Pritchard, John Randall, David Ruffley, David Tredinnick, Anne Widdecombe Ann Winterton, Sir Nicholas Winterton, AGAINST Labour Jeremy Corbyn, Jim Cousins, Frank Field, Mark Fisher, Neil Gerrard, Kate Hoey, Dan Norris, Sir Peter Soulsby, David Winnick Conservative James Clappison, John Redwood, Richard Shepherd, Philip Hollobone, John Maples Liberal Democrat Norman Baker, Lorely Burt, Tim Farron, Sandra Gidley, Julia Goldsworthy, Evan Harris, David Howarth, Simon Hughes, Susan Kramer, Plaid Cymru George Galloway Tellers for the Noes: Alan Reid and Jo Swinson
On Friday 18th. May 2007 Parliament voted to give a Third Reading to Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2007. This Bill, which is a Private Member's Bill promoted by former Tory Chief Whip David Maclean (Penrith & The Border), has been put forward as being necessary to protect the correspondence of constituents with MPs and of MPs with ministers concerning the affairs of their constituents.
As the Headnote puts it the bill seeks to "Amend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to exempt from its provisions the House of Commons and House of Lords and correspondence between Members of Parliament and public authorities." It will thus be seen that the protection of the correspondence of Members is but a secondary objective of this Bill. It does not take much intelligence to appreciate that the correspondence which this Bill and its supporters seek to protect are already amply protected by the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. If such correspondence is not so protected, then it would be a simple matter to amend that Act to achieve the desired result. Instead a Bill which is of far wider application has been presented and now given its third reading. Why is a blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 needed to achieve the stated objective?
Promises have been given that this is not the intention of the Bill and that, voluntarily, (how kind), The Speaker will ensure that such details continue to be available.
Frankly this promise is one which the average taxpayer and elector ought to treat as not being worth the paper upon which it is written. If the LAW is that the Houses of Parliament are exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 then any MP or Peer unwilling to allow his or her expenses to be exposed to the light of day and thus scrutiny by those who pay for them could invoke the provisions of this Bill and as a matter of law prevent their disclosure, whatever promises might be given by The Speaker. And who is to say that a subsequent Speaker would honour such a promise? Given the reputation of MPs in the early years of this Millenium, why should we believe a single word they say on such a matter?
By this Bill the political elite of this country seeks to put itself above, even outside the law, arrogantly asserting that there indeed is one law for us, the general public and one law for them, our political masters.
Private Members Bills normally stand but little chance of passing into law. This Bill appeared at one stage to have fallen by the wayside but further time was mysteriously found for it to proceed. Again normally do not receive any Government support, but on this occasion, as the voting list which is published here, substantial and unexpected support from Labour members emerged when the vote on the Third Reading of the Bill took place on 18th. May 2007. Surprisingly some 25 Tories also supported this Bill. They in particular should be ashamed of themselves.
Commentators suggest that the Government is tacitly in support of this Bill. This is unsurprising since the Government has recently been showing signs of wanting, by underhand means such as charging exorbitant fees, to emasculate the workings of the Freedom of Information Act, having discovered that far too much embarrassing and discreditable information is getting into the public domain because of the effective use journalists are making of it. There are also signs that the Tory front bench is not unopposed to this Bill: certainly they have made no effort to urge Conservative MPs to stop this Bill in its tracks. Whatever David Cameron may now be saying about this Bill and the need to stop it from getting on the Statute Book, he and his Front Bench team were conspicuous by their absence last Friday. It is only the weekend's highly critical comment that has stirred him into life. Better late than never!
Gordon Brown seems not to be against it for one of his principal Lieutenants and political friends, Ed Balls, voted in favour of the Bill. Balls is Treasury Economic Secretary under Brown.
Given that the Government, faced with more and more skilful investigation by journalists and others, has become distinctly chilly towards the Freedom of Information Act 2001, here was a perfect vehicle for the Government to start the process of rolling back the freedom of information tide, promoted by a backbench member of the Opposition (who just by chance happens to have been the Tories’ Chief Whip). Here too was a perfect way to curry favour with their own backbenchers whose allowances and expenses would otherwise be exposed to the cruel exposure of journalistic daylight, an apparently risk-free vehicle to subvert the nation’s right to know without leaving too much tell-tale DNA behind.
In order to shame these shameless people into killing this disgraceful proposal to put MPs and Peers above the law, a Draft Bill has been prepared and an ePetition advocating its adoption has been placed on on the
Key Adrian Bailey = Member of Government
Tellers for the Ayes: Mr. Tim Boswell and Mr. Andrew Dismore
Hywel Williams
Respect
Thursday 24 May 2007
We Pay For Them!
SUPPORT THE BILL BY SIGNING THE ePETITION
VOTING RECORD FOR THE THIRD READING OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AMENDEMENT BILL 2007
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