Tag Archives: right of recall

Stephen Tall

Registers and recall: I support them both. But they’re not going to clean up our democracy

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 7:25 pm

The weekend’s revelations that two Labour peers and an Ulster Unionist were filmed offering to lobby ministers for cash, following hot on the heels of Tory MP Patrick Mercer’s resignation of the Tory whip over similar allegations, has re-ignited the question of how to clean up Parliament.

Two proposals are being pushed, both of them originally pledged in the Coalition Agreement.

Register of lobbyists

First, there’s a register of lobbyists, intended to bring greater transparency to the way in which professional lobbyists seek to influence government decisions. This is one of Unlock Democracy’s top campaigns:

If we don’t know

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Mercer affair can only help Nick Clegg’s quest for lobbying transparency and recalling MPs

By The Voice | Sat 1st June 2013 - 8:51 am

As more embarrassing revelations come out about Newark MP Patrick Mercer’s conduct, momentum is bound to build behind Nick Clegg’s quest to introduce both a register of lobbyists and a right of recall so that constituents can get rid of an MP accused of serious wrongdoing.

He has talked about both issues recently. Firstly, on recall, reported in the Guardian:

The proposals included in the coalition agreement appeared to have been stalled partly because there was disagreement on what behaviour by an MP could trigger a constituent’s right to petition for a byelection.

Clegg is proposing there has to be agreement

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Patricia Organ
    Layla!...
  • Alex Macfie
    Hopefully we remember the last time a successful Lib Dem leader was prematurely deposed with no plan for who should replace him. Charles Kennedy RIP....
  • Katharine Pindar
    The question remains, then, of how we can show a distinctive sense of what our party stands for to the public, to maintain if not increase the numbers of our el...
  • Katharine Pindar
    Prime Minister's Questions today saw our Leader calling for the promised cross-party talks on Social Care to be brought in quickly, and the PM agreeing they are...
  • expats
    Yeovil Yokel 14th Oct '26 - 7:54am......Well, after last night’s meeting of the parliamentary party in Westminster and the overwhelming endorsement of Ed’s ...