The Pritchard investigation shows once again why we need action on MPs’ second jobs

The Daily Telegraph has reported today that the senior Conservative MP Mark Pritchard allegedly offered to use his political contacts to set up business deals with foreign officials and ministers in return for being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.  He allegedly told an undercover reporter that he could use his “network” to set up meetings with politicians in countries where he had parliamentary connections.

Mr Pritchard has rightly referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and it is essential that the Commissioner now undertakes an urgent investigation to ascertain whether or not the House of Commons Code of Conduct has been upheld both in principle and practice.

But the fact we are seeing yet another investigation only goes to reinforce why Ed Miliband was right to call for new rules and new limits on MPs’ outside earnings earlier this year. The perception that some MPs are only in it for what they can get, not for what they can give, merely serves to further undermine Parliament.  As Ed Miliband has said:

“The British people expect their MPs to be representing them and the country not anyone else.”

Decades ago, when Parliament resembled more a gentlemen’s club than a people’s Parliament, being an MP was seen as a second job.  However, it is impossible to deny that things have moved on and that the public’s expectations have rightly changed.  Of course it is good for MPs to keep connected to the world beyond Westminster and to have outside interests, but being in touch does not depend on the ability to earn large amounts of money from the private sector.  Despite what many Conservative MPs will tell you, it is perfectly possible to have “outside interests” (in the true sense of the words) without having unlimited outside financial interests.

The current rules are clearly not fit for purpose in the 21st century.  And a quick look at the Register of Members’ Financial Interests reveals the true scale of the problem.  Incredibly, five MPs currently have 19 jobs between them, while an estimated 85 Conservative MPs – almost one in three – have second jobs and directorships.  How can this be allowed to continue?

In his speech back in July, Ed Miliband pledged that under a Labour government, in a concerted effort to make politics more open, transparent and trusted, no MP would be permitted to hold paid directorships or consultancies.  Additionally, a new limit to how much MPs could earn from outside interests would be introduced.

This would not prevent MPs from doing a certain amount of work to retain any skills they had acquired before entering Parliament, such as working as a GP or a lawyer.  But there would be a reasonable limit, as is the case in many other countries, to how much they could earn.   Regrettably, but not surprisingly, the Government – including Tory and Lib Dem MPs – voted against these reforms in a Commons vote forced by Labour last July.

It is clear that David Cameron wants to see business as usual for MPs, but the status quo is becoming more unsustainable and more indefensible by the day.  Interestingly, the latest scandal involving Mr Pritchard comes in the same week that the Government has been forced to pause the Lobbying Bill in the House of Lords – a Bill that would only cover one per cent of lobbying activity.  It’s a Bill that lets David Cameron’s chief adviser, the tobacco lobbyist Lynton Crosby, off the hook, whilst at the same time seeks to gag cancer charities and other campaigners.  This pause is now an opportunity for the Government to fundamentally rethink aspects of the Bill – including on rules around MPs’ second jobs.

If the Government misses this opportunity, there will be a clear choice at the next general election: between the Labour Party, which wants big reforms, our politics opened up, and big money taken out of politics—including new rules and new limits on second jobs; or the Tories and Lib Dems who want to keep things the way they are.  David Cameron will continue to defend the status quo, but the truth is outside interests contribute not to the richness of debate in the House of Commons, but simply to the richness of individual MPs.

In 20 years time we will no doubt look back and wonder why it took so long to introduce the changes we desperately need for new limits on MPs’ second jobs.  History will record which party was on the side of change and of the public.  But it’s time we acted – and did so quickly.

Michael Dugher is the MP for Barnsley East and the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office