Tag Archives: recall

Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes: Workable real recall

By Julian Huppert | Mon 27th October 2014 - 11:00 am

House of Commons. Crown Copyright applies to this photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/uk_parliament/4642915654/Scandals such as those around MP’s expenses led to calls for legislation to allow MPs who had behaved badly to be recalled, so that their electorate could have a prompt chance to give a verdict on the wrongdoing. To this end, we promised in our manifesto to allow for recalls for MPs who had committed ‘serious misconduct’. The Tories promised the same, and Labour offered recall for ‘financial misconduct’.

I believe that that is the right thing to do, and is the reasoning for the Recall of MPs Bill, currently before the House of Commons. It passed its second reading unanimously last week, and the details are being debated in a Committee of the Whole House today.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 41 Comments
Stephen Tall

MP recall: 73% of Lib Dem members approve of voters’ right to sack their representatives

By Stephen Tall | Wed 21st May 2014 - 10:10 am

Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UKLib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 830 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

73% of Lib Dem members approve of MP recall; 19% disapprove

The government has said that voters should have a means to ‘sack’ MPs who are guilty of ‘serious wrongdoing’. It proposes to allow voters in individual constituencies …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Farron: “No excuse for David Cameron to block recall of MPs but he has done”

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 14th February 2014 - 1:21 pm

The Guardian reports that the proposal to recall MPs who have committed serious wrongdoing has been blocked by David Cameron against the wishes of Nick Clegg.

A Lib Dem source said news that the legislation had been dropped was broken to the party’s MPs at a meeting on Tuesday. “Tom Brake, the deputy leader of the house, stood up and told MPs it was off the agenda. It seems that the Tories have argued that there is too much to deal with and something had to give. But it didn’t wash: they are pandering to their backbenchers,” he said.

Under the plans,

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 21 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Bill Walker: the poster boy for a recall law

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 22nd August 2013 - 3:30 pm

The issue of recall raises its head today as Bill Walker, the MSP for Dunfermline, has been found guilty, as the BBC reports, of 23 charges of domestic abuse over a 28 year period.

The 71-year-old, from Alloa, had denied 23 charges of assault and one breach of the peace, but was found guilty of all charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Walker, who will be sentenced next month, has been urged to stand down as the independent MSP for Dunfermline.

He had been elected in 2011 as an SNP MSP, but was suspended by the party after the allegations emerged.

Walker was later

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 24 Comments
The Voice

Lib Link… Nick Clegg: Sadly, I’m not surprised by these revelations. Westminster is crying out for reform

By The Voice | Mon 3rd June 2013 - 12:45 pm

I know that the absence of the register from last month’s Queen’s Speech raised some concerns. So let me be clear: it will happen.

That was Nick Clegg writing in the Telegraph following accusations that an MP and three peers were engaging in paid lobbying.

Also on the table is the power of recall of corrupt MPs – something also raised by Tories Dan Hannan and Douglas Carswell elsewhere in the Telegraph. The point at issue between the two positions: whether there must be wrongdoing, or whether recall is at the absolute discretion of the petitioners and …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 15 Comments
Steve Shaw

Independent View: why we should all campaign for full recall

By Steve Shaw | Mon 27th June 2011 - 3:27 pm

For over six years now I have worked on Parliamentary campaigns such as the Sustainable Communities Act and the Climate Change Act. I have done this as an independent freelance, unaffiliated to any political party and always seeking cross party support.

This experience has given me a deep insight into our system of governance from the Ministers and senior civil servants at the top, whom I meet in Westminster and Whitehall, to communities at the bottom, whom I meet at campaign public meetings that I speak at across the country.

Our democratic system desperately needs reform. People increasingly feel disconnected …

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged , and | 19 Comments
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    May I suggest a slogan for 'Count Binface'... "If I get given £5million for being your MP, I'll spend it on Clacton Not Ferraris!"...
  • Ruth Bright
    Dear Mathew, You have been 100% successful in paying tribute to your Mum with your recent work. Thank you for raising the issue of UTI where the risks for all w...
  • Russell
    Really nice piece. Thanks. Comments re Anne Widdecombe are a refreshing change from social media. Those who knew her seemed to really like her. Sorry to hear ab...
  • David Raw
    Agree with Mick Taylor, but would also suggest Count Binface is no mug..... he's an Oxford graduate in classics and classical languages, literatures and linguis...
  • Mick Taylor
    Some posters on here are real killjoys. If Binface were to beat Farage it would end Farage's political career. And let's face it, Binface could hardly be a wors...