Media Guide to the Queen's Speech 2013

7/29/2019 Media Guide to the Queen's Speech 2013

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Unlock Democracys br iefing on the 2013 Queens Speech

About Us

Unlock Democracy is the UKs leading campaign for democracy, rights and freedoms. A

grassroots movement, we are owned and run by our members. In particular, we campaign for

fair, open and honest elections, stronger parliament and accountable government, and a

written constitution. We want to bring power closer to the people and create a culture of

informed political interest and responsibility.

Summary

The 2010 Coalition Agreement set out what we described at the time as a bold political reformlegislative agenda. By the Mid-Term Review, political reform was clearly less of a priority but

there were still firm commitments in a number of key policy areas. In recent days and weeks

there have been reports that these promises will be dropped. Given this Queen's Speech

realistically represents the last chance for new legislation to be enacted before the general

election will the Queens Speech demonstrate renewed leadership in this area or continued

dither and drift?

Unlock Democracy wants to see proposals on the following issues:

A statutory register of lobbyists. A detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove

big money from politics.

Legislation to introduce a power of recall and improve political accountability

Director of Unlock Democracy Peter Facey commented

These are issues where there is cross-party agreement regarding the need to take action. TheBritish political system is badly in need of reform, particularly in the areas of lobbying,accountability and public apathy. These arent areas which can wait for a future government topick up the pieces.


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Lobbying

What they saidWe will regulate lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists and ensuringgreater transparency. (Coalition Agreement 2010, pg 21, and Mid-Term Review 2013, pg 39)

Summary of current position

David Cameron was right when he said in 2010 that lobbying is the next scandal waiting tohappen. J ust a year after taking office, Liam Fox had to resign from the cabinet as Secretaryof State for Defence after a lobbying scandal whilst J eremy Hunt has had to face a barrage ofallegations during the Leveson inquiry following his time as Culture Secretary regarding theBSkyB takeover, over which his Special Advisor was forced to resign.

In J anuary 2012, the Government published a consultation document outlining plans for aregister1. However it was widely criticised by MPs, the industry and campaigners alike for

arguing that only those acting on behalf of a third party client should be covered by theregister. This would have meant that companies (or campaigning organisations and charities)that employ in house lobbyists would not be covered by the register. Also the governmentproposals would only have required lobbyists to publish the names of their client - not anythingabout the policy area they were seeking to influence or the amount of money being spent onlobbying. This would make the register considerably weaker than those that exist in Canada orthe USA for example.

Unlock Democracys position

After a green paper, and a huge amount of the Cabinet Offices time freed up due to theabandonment of House of Lords reform, there really is no excuse for the governments lack ofprogress on lobbying transparency.

The problem at its heart appears to be the close links between key government ministers andthe lobbying industry. This however only highlights the need for greater urgency on the matter.

1Unlock Democracys summary of the proposals can be found here

http://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbying
http://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbyinghttp://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbyinghttp://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbyinghttp://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbyinghttp://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-the-governments-consultation-paper-on-lobbying


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Party FundingWhat they said

We will pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding inorder to remove big money from politics. (Coalition Agreement 2010, pg 21 and Mid-Term

Review 2013 pg 39)


Political parties are an essential part of our political system and need sources other than publicfunding to exist. The issue has been what donors expect or get in return for their money.Recent scandals have included the infamous cash for peerages police inquiry and variouscash for access stories, the most recent involving the then Conservative Party TreasurerPeter Cruddas claiming large premier league donations could buy exclusive access to thePrime Minister.

This led to a resumption of party funding talks between the main three parties, which accordingto Ministers are ongoing and are making progress. However both written and oralparliamentary answers have revealed meetings are infrequent with no schedule published.Stumbling blocks appear to be on what level a cap on donations should be set at, and whetherthey should apply to Trade Unions, who argue for special status. With no party seemingly keento act without consensus it looks like money talks.

Unlock Democracys position

This Government needs to tackle the growing influence of money in politics. The Committeeon Standards in Public Life published a comprehensive report on this eighteen months agoand the governments failure to respond has been deplorable.

The extent to which political parties depend on a handful of premier league donors for theircampaign war chests is extremely worrying and the access to policy makers that many donorsappear to get in exchange. Political parties ought to be focused on the interests of the publicnot on special interests and rich investors.


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RecallWhat they said

We will bring forward legislation to introduce a power of recall, allowing voters to force a by-election where an MP is found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing and having had a

petition calling for a by-election signed by 10% of his or her constituents. (Mid-Term Review,Political Reform, pg 39)


Following an initial promise in the Coalition Agreement to introduce early legislation on recall,on 13 December 2011 the government published the Draft Recall of MPs Bill. It was heavilycriticised by the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee as well as MPs such asZac Goldsmith and Douglas Carswell.

Under the Governments plans only after MPs had decided that an act warranted recall could a

petition process be initiated. In a joint evidence session with Unlock Democracy, Mr Carswelland Mr Goldsmith both argued that constituents themselves should be able to force a recallvote without interference from a fellow MPs colleagues.

The Committee also criticised the Bill. Whilst suggesting ways it could be improved, its reportrecommended that the Government abandon its plans to introduce recall altogether, claimingexisting parliamentary disciplinary measures were sufficient.

The principle of recall was promised by all three main parties at the last General Election andremains popular with the electorate. All party leaders have gone on record saying they wantrecall legislation introduced, however cite reservations that MPs will be subject to a KangarooCourt. It is now subsequently not clear when or indeed if new a new Bill will be put forward bythe Government.

Unlock Democracys view

Sadly the Government and Parliament don't get recall. Voters have the right to hire and firetheir elected representatives, but they have to wait up to 5 years to do it, and most MPs are inso called safe seats.It should not be for fellow parliamentarians to decide if a MP should be recalled - it should beup to their voters. Safeguards can be put in place such as only being able to use themechanism once, however the people should be able to lodge a petition on any issue at anytime of their choice.

Coupled with the dropping of the coalition pledge on introducing all postal primaries, failure tointroduce this legislation will only fuel increasing public apathy.

Documents

Media Guide to the Queen's Speech 2013