Deputy PM sets out Coalition’s agenda for Constitutional reform

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Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s first speech from the Commons dispatch box on Monday 7 June 2010 addressed a “hugely ambitious” programme of political and constitutional reforms which he will spearhead. The aim, he said, was “to transform the landscape so we achieve a better balance between Parliament and the Executive, clean, transparent politics and power handed back to people.

“Given the scope of that package, we will inevitably disagree about some of the detail. But I sincerely hope the underlying principles of the reforms we are proposing will bring both sides of the House together. Despite any differences, we all share a single ambition – to restore people’s faith in their politics and their politicians. The Government’s plans will do just that, because our programme turns a page on governments who hoard power, on parliaments that look inwards rather than outwards, and on widespread disengagement among people who feel locked out of decisions that affect their everyday lives.”

Here, topic by topic, is a summary of what Clegg told the Commons:

# Changing constituency boundaries and reducing the number of MPs
I do not think anyone would question the value of trying to reduce the cost of Parliament by making a modest cut in the total numbers. I do not judge the quality of our democracy by the simple number of politicians in the House. I completely agree that the redrawing of Britain’s unfair electoral boundaries must be done with care, but the need for care is not a reason not to act at all. The most recent boundary review in England began in 2000 and took six years to report. By the time the new constituencies were used in the General Election last month, the population of one in five constituencies in England was more than ten per cent above or below that review’s target figure of 69,900. In the most extreme case, we have one constituency that is five times the size of another. That is simply not right. It is the ultimate postcode lottery, whereby the weight of one’s vote depends on where one lives. We are seeking a modest reduction in the number of House of Commons seats. There will be a consistent approach towards the equalisation of constituencies throughout the nation; that approach will need to accommodate some of the specific characteristics and features of the nations and regions of this country. We are now working on how we do that, and we will come forward with proposals. At present, constituencies are unequal, the weight of people’s votes is unequal, and that is simply not an acceptable position at a time when we have this great opportunity to renew our democracy from top to toe. Clearly the job of being an MP in sparsely populated and very large rural constituencies is a great challenge. That is exactly the kind of thing that we will need to take into consideration as we progress with this measure.

# Referendum on the Alternative Vote
We want people to decide directly if they want to change the system by which they elect their MPs, which is why there will be a referendum on the Alternative Vote. I will announce the date of that referendum in due course.

# Fixed-term parliaments and the ’55 per cent rule’
Quite simply, the logic is to stop any single party doing what happens at the moment, which is timing the occasion of a General Election for pure party self-interest. That needs to be removed if we are to have proper fixed-term parliaments. We need to relinquish executive control. The Government is determined that no government should be able to play politics with the dates of an election. Parliamentary terms should be fixed for five years. We need a new right for Parliament to request a dissolution, taking away the Prime Minister’s exclusive and traditional right to call an election when he or she wishes. The majority required for early dissolution – set at 55 per cent in the coalition agreement – has clearly sparked a lot of anguish among the opposition. It should; it is an important decision that will, of course, be properly considered by the whole House, as the legislation progresses. But the opposition are wilfully misrepresenting how that safeguard will function. They are deliberately confusing that new right with traditional powers of no confidence, which will remain intact. Let me assure the House that we are already conducting detailed work on the steps that are necessary to remove any theoretical possibility of a limbo in which a government who could not command the confidence of the House would refuse to dissolve Parliament and give people their say. That would clearly be intolerable. Any new arrangements will need to build on existing conventions, so that a distinction is maintained between no confidence and early dissolution.  When we table the legislation, we will ensure that no Government can fall between those two things – a motion of no confidence and a vote of dissolution. We will, as is the case in many other parliamentary systems, set out how we can avoid a limbo in which a government does not enjoy the confidence of the House yet a vote has not taken place, or cannot take place, to dissolve that government. The coalition agreement, which binds the Government as a whole, is very clear that we want to see fixed-term parliaments. We will table legislation for a fixed-term parliament. We will table a motion before the legislation is introduced to make sure that the political commitment to a fixed-term parliament is made completely clear. There is consensus across the whole House on the virtues of fixed-term parliaments.

# House of Lords reform
It should be up to the British people to elect their second chamber – a second Chamber that must be much more representative of them, their communities and their neighbourhoods. I have set up a committee, which I will chair, to take forward this reform, composed of members from all three major political parties, as well as from both Houses. The committee will be explicitly charged with producing a draft Bill by no later than the end of this year – the first time that legislation for an elected second chamber will ever have been published. The draft Bill will then be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint committee of both Houses. We are not starting this process from scratch. There is already significant shared ground between the parties. I am not going to hide my impatience for reforms that are more than 100 years overdue.

Subject to the legitimate scrutiny that the Bill will deserve, this Government is determined to push through the necessary reforms to the other place. People have been talking about Lords reform for more than a century. The time for talk is over. People must be allowed to elect those who make the laws of the land. The committee will hold its first meeting as early as next week.

# Powers of recall
If there are individual parliamentarians who break the rules, we will guarantee that the House of Commons is not a safe house. We will introduce legislation to ensure that, where it has been proven that a member has been engaged in serious wrongdoing, their constituents will have the right to organise a petition to force a by-election. When people have been let down by their MP in that way, they must not be made to wait until the next election to cast their judgment, but I also want to be clear: recall will not collapse into some tit-for-tat game between party political rivals, with parties seeking to oust each other through those petitions. When MPs are accused of doing something seriously wrong, they are entitled to expect a fair and due process to determine their innocence or guilt. That is why I certainly would not be content for a body composed only of MPs, as the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges was, to be the sole route by which we decide an MP’s culpability. That is why we are looking into exactly what would be the fairest, most appropriate and most robust trigger. I shall outline those plans very soon.

# Expenses
As we strengthen Parliament, we must ensure that we have cleaned it up, too. Radical steps have already been taken to put in place a new expenses regime.
Although the way that the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is working in its early days may be controversial to some on both sides of the House, I am sure everyone agrees that public confidence in how MPs are paid is absolutely crucial. Our personal arrangements should never be so grossly out of step with those of our constituents.
The Leader of the House is already talking to IPSA about how we can move away from the generous final salary pension scheme enjoyed by members of the House.

# Party funding
It is time to finish what was started three years ago in the cross-party talks on party funding. Every party has had its own problems, but we all now have an opportunity to draw a line under them, so we will seize that opportunity. We will pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding to remove big money from politics for good.

# Lobbying
We all remember the outrage felt in all parts of the House at the lobbying scandals that unfolded just a few months ago. Much lobbying activity is perfectly legitimate. Much of it serves an important function, allowing different organisations and charities to make representations to Parliament, but it is a process that must be made completely transparent.  We are committed to ensuring that transparency and we will introduce a statutory register of lobbyists.

# ‘Unnecessary’ laws
As part of our plans to rebalance the relationship between citizen and state, we are inviting people to tell us which unnecessary laws they believe should be repealed. In recent years the statute book has groaned with the addition of countless new laws, regulations and offences. The process of identifying unnecessary laws is part of a broader programme to end the unjustified intrusion of the state into ordinary people’s lives.  Legislation has already been introduced to scrap ID cards and cancel the national identity register. Action will follow on proper regulation of CCTV, on preventing schools from taking children’s fingerprints without their parents’ consent, and on restoring rights to non-violent protest.

# Voter registration
We need to introduce individual voter registration. The current legislation allows for voluntary individual voter registration to start now, with a view to moving towards a compulsory system by 2015. There is now an issue about whether we want to accelerate that process, but we can all agree that if we do so it must be properly resourced and organised.

# Scottish and Welsh devolution
We plan to strengthen the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly by implementing recommendations from the Calman commission’s final report. Equally, Wales will get a referendum on further devolution – a decision that will be taken by the Welsh people.  As for the referendum’s timing, the Secretary of State for Wales and the First Minister are meeting today, with a view to identifying a date – most likely, in the first few months of next year.

# Other issues
We are committed to strengthening Parliament by introducing the Wright Committee’s proposals, starting with the proposed committee for the management of backbench business before the subsequent introduction of a House business committee to consider Government business. We want people to be able to initiate debates here in the Commons through public petitions, we want a new public reading stage for Bills, we want people to be able to instigate local referendums on issues that matter to their neighbourhoods.