Opinion Changing Westminster
The Conservatives,Labour and the Liberal Democrats have focused,uniquely,on constitutional reform in this campaign.
The Conservatives,Labour and the Liberal Democrats have focused,uniquely,on constitutional reform in this campaign. As Britain prepares to vote in whats its most open general election in decades and as the give and take of agendas in a hung Parliament looks very probable,the Westminster system may just see dramatic changes. Excerpts from the three manifestos:
Conservatives
• Strengthen Parliament so that it acts as a proper check on the power of ministers;
• Reduce the number of MPs by 10 per cent as part of a wider series of reforms to cut the cost of politics;
• Ensure each vote has equal value by reducing the wide discrepancies between constituency electorate sizes;
• Restore the integrity of the ballot and give voters the right to kick out MPs guilty of wrongdoing;
• Introduce new rules on lobbying and tougher restrictions on ex-ministers;
• Seek an agreed long-term settlement on party funding,including an across-the-board cap on donations as part of a comprehensive package of reform. This will mark the end of the big donor era and the sleaze it has sometimes entailed;
• Work to secure a consensus for a substantially elected House of Lords; and
• Address the West Lothian Question by ensuring that legislation on devolved issues that only affects England,or England and Wales,can only be passed with the consent of MPs from England,and where applicable Wales.
Labour
• To begin the task of building a new politics,we will let the British people decide on whether to make Parliament more democratic and accountable in referenda on reform of the House of Commons and House of Lords,to be held on the same day,by October 2011.
• To ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election,we will hold a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote for elections to the House of Commons.
• We will ensure that the hereditary principle is removed from the House of Lords.
• To further strengthen our democracy and renew our constitution,we will legislate for fixed term Pparliaments and set up an all party commission to chart a course to a written constitution.
• The success of elections for local youth mayors and the UK youth parliament strengthens the case for reducing the voting age to 16,a change to which Labour is committed. However,we believe that prior to this happening,we need further to improve citizenship education in schools so that young people are better prepared for their democratic responsibilities; a report will be commissioned on how best to achieve this.
Liberal Democrats
• Change politics and abolish safe seats by introducing a fair,more proportional voting system for MPs. Our preferred single transferable vote system gives people the choice between candidates as well as parties. Under the new system,we will be able to reduce the number of MPs by 150.
• Give the right to vote from age 16.
• Introduce fixed-term parliaments to ensure that the prime minister of the day cannot change the date of an election to suit themselves.
• Strengthen the House of Commons to increase accountability. We will increase parliamentary scrutiny of the budget and of government appointments .
• Replace the House of Lords with a fully-elected second chamber with considerably fewer members than the current House.
• Introduce a written constitution.
• We would introduce a recall system so that constituents could force a byelection for any MP found responsible for serious wrongdoing.
• Get big money out of politics by capping donations at £10,000 and limiting spending throughout the electoral cycle.
• Require all MPs,Lords and parliamentary candidates to be resident,ordinarily resident and domiciled in Britain for tax.
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