UK Parliament: Change we can believe in?

By A Supporter

When Barack Obama positioned himself as ‘change’ we could believe in, we believed him. Indeed, the word ‘change’ is what got him elected. It’s what he now does, change the way things are, mostly for the better. When Gordon Brown convinced the PLP a couple of weeks ago that he could change, that he would try harder, that he was the best person for the job, the PLP, with whips’ knives in their backs, thumped approvingly on the desks of Committee Room 14, thus re-anointing Gordon Brown as Leader and Prime Minister.

Since the recent debate surrounding Gordon Brown’s leadership began, with those painful Cabinet resignations, the British people have elected two fascists to the European Parliament, the electoral map of British counties has turned blue, Scotland Yard has announced an official investigation into certain Members’ expenses claims, and John Bercow, the diminutive Member for Buckingham, has been elected Speaker of the House of Commons, much to the horror of his fellow Tories.

But despite the speeches, the votes, the party politics, the highs, the lows, what has really changed? Has Gordon Brown improved? Are the PLP now happy, post-Committee Room 14? Do those who voted for the BNP on June 4th regret their decision? Does the British electorate regret turning nearly every county council over to the Tories? Will Scotland Yard really prosecute ‘Honourable Members?’ Is John Bercow really capable of uniting the House?

In my opinion, the survival of UK Parliament is a given. In my opinion, we, the people, do not have the guts for the kind of changes being talked about, nor do those talking about change seem able to initiate real change. To me, Gordon Brown still sounds the same, the PLP still reek of indecision, there are still two BNP MEPs representing the UK at the European Parliament, the Tories are still making gains (sadly), John Bercow still looks like he might just be the most divisive Speaker in living memory, and yes, Nadine Dorries still looks thoroughly put out.

People talk of a newly invigorated Prime Minister, of good Government back at the fore, of a unified PLP, of “sweeping reforms” across the parliamentary spectrum, of John Bercow as “the great reformer”, of justice to Members who have milked the system, but riddle me this: on the back of all that has happened in recent weeks, what serious, meaningful changes have there actually been? No one wants a McCarthyite witch-hunt over expenses, or to pull John Bercow out of the chair before he has begun, but my God, we’re a supine bunch if we think all is well in the pointy Neo-Gothic building on the river. I mean, haven’t a few pieces simply been shuffled about the board? Haven’t a few obvious judgments been made long after the fact?

When, for example, Margaret Beckett is booed on Question Time for her outlandish expenses claims, what is it that then makes her think, a few short weeks later, that she has the integrity and the confidence of fellow Members to run for the office of Speaker? When Harriet Harman announces the prospect of criminal prosecution for MPs should they be caught milking a now defunct expenses system, isn’t that like telling a bunch of condemned men on the way to the gallows that all is forgiven, just don’t do it again? When Nadine Dorries (and every other Tory) shakes her head at the news that a self-styled reformer has been elected to the office of Speaker, doesn’t that just prove that party politics is still more important than anyone/everyone outside the village of Westminster?

People, I ask you this:

Has anything really changed or have we been conned into thinking that UK Parliament now represents change we can believe in?