Where’s the democracy?

By Jeremy Corbyn

On Monday the House of Commons debated the foreign affairs and defence sections of the Queen’s speech. Most of the discussion was about Afghanistan and the Middle East, with prescient remarks about the Chilcot inquiry, which opened this week. The House did not like being reminded that British troops have been in Iraq for almost seven years. Even less did it like being reminded that there had been no substantive Parliamentary vote on the deployment of British forces before the invasion took place.

The Chilcot inquiry is not without its limitations. Membership was appointed by the Prime Minister, it has no judicial function, witnesses are not required to take an oath and it has no counsel to interrogate those giving evidence. However, it could provide some answers as to how the British political system permitted an illegal war and how it is that the protagonists for military action have so far escaped any legal censure.

The root of the problem is the British parliamentary system’s supine relationship with the executive and the lack of parliamentary power in the constitutional structure. Executive powers and parliamentary accountability coexist amid a rich cocktail of patronage, inheritance and chicanery.

To invigorate the elected chamber of the House of Commons a number of reforms need to take place. There should at the outset be an understanding that an elected Parliament is there to represent the democratic wishes of the people and to hold government to account. The House of Commons at the moment is essentially a creature of government, rather than a representation of the wishes of the people. MPs need to be empowered to decide what business the house should follow and what legislative programme it is to undertake.

Under current arrangements the government controls virtually all of the business time in the house and has no difficulty in controlling the time allocated for its own legislative programme. The Prime Minister’s Office has inherited the power of the royal prerogative and this can be – and is – used to bypass Parliament. It is high time that all Prime Ministerial decisions were brought under parliamentary scrutiny.

Additionally, orders in council signed by the Queen are subject to no Parliamentary scrutiny whatsoever. This was illustrated when the Chagos Islanders were denied their right to return and when the autonomous Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands was suspended by royal fiat. In both cases there was no possibility of Parliamentary debate.

Prime Ministerial patronage extends effectively to the appointments of most members of the House of Lords and to a vast number of quangos. Through the power to appoint ministers and officials of the House, including the leader and the chief whip, select committee appointments are also the subject of the same patronage.

If we want an effective democracy, the House of Commons must assert itself and show that it has the authority of the electorate. MPs too often operate in their comfort zone. They are willingly being told what to do by whips – to vote for Bills they have not read on subjects they don’t understand.

There is a campaign going on for the establishment of a citizens’ convention. This is useful in promoting serious debate and discussion about democracy, but some caution should be exercised on the idea of the right of recall. The right of recall is often used by the rich and powerful to try to undermine a democratically elected government. For example, vast resources were expended to try to remove Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. And in the United States some wealthy lobby groups campaigned for a right of recall to remove Democrat governor Gray Davis of California, who was then replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One can imagine the kind of forces that would have activated a power of recall against Tam Dalyell when he was pursing the truth about the sinking of the General Belgrano. Many would have also wanted Tony Benn out of the picture when he was industry minister in the 1970s because he was upsetting the captains of industry with his pursuit of industrial democracy and planning agreements.

It’s important that MPs are elected for a specific geographical area and are accountable to localised political forces and communities rather than the dubious democracy of huge multimember constituencies.

Democracy was fought for to bring about rights for every citizen for health, education, housing and protection from destitution and poverty. It was also to control what governments do in our name. It’s time the debate moved onto this fundamental territory.

This article was also published in the Morning Star.