Saturday
04Nov2006
Cronyism at the heart of the Cash for Peerages enquiry
Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 2:05PM
If there was ever evidence of our need for comprehensive constitutional reform, it is the news that Blair’s attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, is to advise on the Cash for Peerages enquiry.
How can someone so close to the executive, be impartial in deciding on whether to prosecute it?
In truth it can’t. In yet another Plaid Cymru/SNP alliance, MP’s Elfyn Llwyd and Angus MacNeil (do I need to say which is the Welshman and which is the Scot, no… thought not) have jointly complained that Goldsmith’s involvement represents a severe conflict on interest. MacNeil, quoted in today’s Guardian, stated:
When Labour was elected in 1997, it was elected on a platform of constitutional reform, of which, very little has been followed through. We need the half-arsed reform of The House of Lords to be completed, and we need procedural reform of the Commons, including greater scrutiny and accountability.
How can someone so close to the executive, be impartial in deciding on whether to prosecute it?
In truth it can’t. In yet another Plaid Cymru/SNP alliance, MP’s Elfyn Llwyd and Angus MacNeil (do I need to say which is the Welshman and which is the Scot, no… thought not) have jointly complained that Goldsmith’s involvement represents a severe conflict on interest. MacNeil, quoted in today’s Guardian, stated:
"It is a concern that somebody who is so closely involved with the prime minister has now got some sort of say over the case. I think the important thing here is to act with propriety and be seen to act with propriety."
When Labour was elected in 1997, it was elected on a platform of constitutional reform, of which, very little has been followed through. We need the half-arsed reform of The House of Lords to be completed, and we need procedural reform of the Commons, including greater scrutiny and accountability.
Reader Comments (1)
Thank god (irony is not lost when you are a humanist) for Angus Brendan MacNeil, the young but energetic MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles to the rest of you), for exposing the Emperor's new clothes.
Cash for peerages has been going on for decades under Labour and Tory PMs (and probably the Lib Dems too), yet you have all sat back and turned a blind eye. Well hell mend ye.
No wonder we want out of the Mother of all Parliaments, because frankly she is becoming the whore of all democracies!