IS IT TIME TO DEMAND MORE OF OUR MPs? (Part 2)

By Ralph Early: Food Scientist and Moral Philosopher.

Following the local elections in May this year, a sitting Member of Parliament was elected as council leader for one of the UK’s major cities. It doesn’t matter who it is, which party they represent or which city. What is of note is that a working MP should believe themself to be capable of holding two distinctly different and important political positions at the same time. More to the point, it’s astonishing they believe that in doing so they can fully and faithfully serve the interests of their electorate. Is it really possible for an MP also to be a council leader and to execute the duties and responsibilities that go with both positions? Surely it risks that matters of significance will slip through cracks and conflicts will occur when council meetings clash with parliamentary debates? Also, from a moral perspective, doesn’t one person occupying two such positions then deprive another of the experience of a societally important role? The first part of this article raised the question of whether or not our MPs are good value for money. To explore this further, try a thought experiment. Imagine visiting say, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Telford or Ludlow and asking randomly chosen people what they think of their MP and what the job of being an MP entails. What might be their replies? Do you think they will know roughly what their MP does with their time as they work for the good of constituents, honestly and without bias or favour? Might they be able to explain, for instance, how their MP earns their tax payer funded salary of £81,932? Common sense and the generally low public opinion of the British political class would seem to suggest that MPs are often understood not to be good value for money. Indeed, many people seem to regard them as fundamentally self-serving individuals who use politics as the means to their own ambitious ends. One should of course be cautious about generalisations, but public opinion does highlight a signal problem with the UK’s democracy. Broadly the country’s electorate seems to be kept in the dark about exactly what it is that MPs do, how they use their time and how they bring benefit to constituencies. Consider again the MP who is also a council leader.

If an MP can also fulfil the role of council leader for a very large city, we have to wonder if being an MP isn’t actually that demanding a job. Or, perhaps being a council leader is really just a walk in the park dressed up as something more complex. At face value, both jobs should be very demanding. As with many occupations, how demanding the job of an MP is will depend on the person doing it and what they’re prepared to give of themselves to do it well. The evidence shows that some MPs are indeed very productive and effective for their constituents. Disquietingly though, history also records that for some, being an MP is only one of a number of lucrative occupations. In principle, MPs are elected to act solely for the good of their constituents, to the best of their ability. In this, they should put the interests of their constituents above their own and those of their party. But do they always do so? Actually, we so often see MPs put the interests of their party before the people: which is perhaps inevitable when they are forced to vote the way their party leader commands or face withdrawal of the party whip. Certainly, the fact that MPs must toe the line and vote for the good of their party which often does not mean for the good of constituents, raises questions about whether we live in a genuine democracy. Added to this, review of the Register of Members Financial Interests will, or at least should show what sources of income MPs have other than their parliamentary salary. Indeed, such a review may add to suspicions that some MPs aren’t actually working for those who elect them. Try checking the Register (see below) for your MP and you may be shocked to find their income from external activities is far greater than their MP’s salary. This than begs questions about what might be their primary interest. Is it being a constituency MP or is it being a corporate consultant, advisor or company director, etc.?

We should of course ask why a corporation or any other business would retain an MP whose role ought to be solely to represent the people who elected them. Could it be that MPs are actually retained by businesses expressly because they are MPs, with the power to influence government policy in numerous ways that can benefit corporate employers including opening doors to valuable tax payer derived, government funding? Indeed, would it be naïve to believe that businesses will pay MPs extraordinary sums, such as £100,000 p.a. for 16 hours work per month and £300,000 p.a. for 3 weeks work, as is apparently the case for some current members of Parliament, if their specialised knowledge, insights and influence didn’t offer advantages not available to ordinary constituents? We need only reflect on the recent ‘Greensill’ scandal involving former prime minister, David Cameron, to recognise the validity of such questions and how they bring doubt about the nature and quality of our democracy.

In a healthy democracy we shouldn’t need to wonder if our MPs are working for us or if instead, their focus is given to extra-parliamentary activities which line their pockets and pave the way to board positions following retirement. Indeed, perhaps the time is coming when British citizens will need to take back control and reclaim their sovereignty from the politicians in Westminster, initially by demanding absolute, unequivocal and published evidence about how their MPs use their time and exactly what it is that they do. But shouldn’t this be an automatic duty of politicians in any true democracy?

References

Nelson, N. 2017. Tory politician earns £100,000 a year from company at centre of drug test tampering scandal. Mirror. 27 May. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-politician-earns-100000-year-10512284 (Accessed: 1 August 2021).

Wilcock, D. 2020. Sajid Javid’s £300,000 ‘side hustles’: Ex-Chancellor adds £1,900-per-hour role as advisor to Silicon Valley AI firm to his collection of second jobs that top up his £80,000 MP salary. Mail Online, 30 November. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9001033/Sajid-Javids-300-000-hustles-Ex-Chancellors-1-900-hour-role-AI-firm.html. (Accessed: 1 August 2021).

Register of Members Financial Interests

www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/register-of-members-financial-interests/