In the ‘new era’ of politics, the Tories are still the same old dinosaurs

By Sebastian Michnowicz

The general election this year was like none other: it had an intake of 231 new MPs, the highest number since the general election in 1945. Many believed this would herald a sea-change in the manner in which politics in the house of commons was conducted; the new faces would blow away corruption, sleaze and expense scandals associated with the previous parliament. With this, and all the talk of ‘coalitions’ being the new, progressive currency, only the most hardened of cynics could be failed to be taken in by it all.

It wasn’t long, however, before the brave new world began to unravel. As the Lib Dems performed u-turn after u-turn on virtually every single issue they had campaigned against prior to the general election, it became obvious that in this ‘coalition’ they are just the fuel in a Conservative bulldozer. So what of the new style of politics: the new style where politicians no longer ‘talk out’ a bill they don’t like, but argue and debate it properly? Well that’s gone too.

Normally I have the radio on while I’m working, but on Friday I put BBC Parliament on in the background so I could listen in to the debate on John McDonnell’s ‘Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors)’ Bill. I did not expect to still be listening five hours later. The debate began in the usual way, with John introducing the Bill which sought to make two small but significant changes to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act (1992):

• Where minor technical or procedural errors occur in the notification of a ballot or in the ballot itself, no injunction can be sought where it is obvious those errors would have no influence on the result of the ballot i.e. where there has been ‘substantial compliance’.
• If an employer suspects impropriety on the part of the union in the balloting process, it is the responsibility of the employer to prove that impropriety and not the responsibility of the union to disprove it.

Isn’t it strange that the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ seems to apply to all except the trade unions? John went on to give a few examples where employers had exploited technicalities to block a strike through the courts. In one instance, an injunction was granted because notification of a ballot result had been delayed by 20 hours. Even where a union had successfully overturned an injunction, such as in the case of Unite vs. BA this year, the fact that an employer had so easily been able to gain an injunction in the first instance proved to be devastating to trade unionists’ morale – particularly as many had previously never taken industrial action.

The first to speak in opposition was the new Conservative MP for Bury North, David Nuttall, who, in the previous week had attempted to water-down smoking ban legislation. Within minutes of beginning his speech, it was obvious that the bad old practice of filibustering was still alive and well on the Tory benches. David rambled on about ‘Conservatives at Work’, an organisation that exists for Conservative-voting trade unionists that doesn’t appear to even have a website. He then droned on about his brother, a merchant seaman, before tediously explaining that he knew all about trade unions because he was once a partner in a small law firm, although none of his staff were union members. Somehow, for me, removing old wallpaper had developed a certain appeal; the sound of the stripping knife scraping against dank-smelling plaster had become enticing, rather than jarring.

None of these tactics were lost on the speaker, nor deputy speaker Dawn Primarolo who came in to replace him, nor deputy speaker Nigel Evans who later came in to replace her. When it became obvious Nuttall’s drivel could not be sustained without reprimand any longer, seven other Conservative MPs decided it was time for them to make interventions every few minutes to drag proceedings out further. Of those seven, six were newly-elected at the general election. The exception was Philip Davies (Shipley), elected in 2005, who also engaged in his own over-an-hour-long style self-deprecating diatribe.

Friday is, of course, a constituency day for most MPs. With it not being obvious if or when there would be a vote, many Labour MPs had to leave Westminster to attend surgeries and such like in their constituencies and when a vote finally took place at 1 o’clock, only 84 MPs voted, giving a majority of 60 in favour, falling short of the 100 needed for the Bill pass further. Had the vote taken place two hours earlier, it may have been a different story.

In filibustering the Bill, the Conservatives had succeeded in pushing out five other private member’s bills scheduled for the day, ironically all being proposed by Conservatives. One will have to until January to be read. John McDonnell described the tactics as a ‘shame and a disgrace’ and he is right: the opportunity to test the will of the house was squandered by a tiny number of Tories who clearly have something to gain from allowing the continued oppression of trade unions.

Clearly the new generation of Conservative MPs is not to be trusted with putting the interests of democracy first. Some sort of reform is needed to prevent filibustering in the future, but it’s unlikely the government will be too concerned about dealing with it so the opportunity for that reform may be through another private member’s bill, but for some reason I doubt that will work.