Parliamentary Standards Bill

Today, the aim is to introduce a Bill that will restore the reputation of Parliament, or go some way towards doing so, specifically when it comes to expenses. I wanted to make a contribution, despite having to reorganise my entire diary to do so, to voice wider concerns about the Bill, and concerns that arise because the Bill does not quite do what I anticipated that it would when it was first announced last week. I feel compelled to speak because the people sent us to this place. They have elected us to make our judgments and put forward views without fear or favour. I feel that it is a duty to make observations that we sometimes feel uncomfortable about making. I also did not want to be complicit by being silent; I certainly will not do that. In the few minutes available to me, I want first to make a point about the fact that this is the people's Parliament. This is a representative democracy, and we are here on the people's behalf. Secondly, I want to set the framework and the context in which the Bill was brought forward. Thirdly, I want to highlight some of the pressures on individual Members of Parliament, party leaders and Parliament itself. I then want to talk about the role of an MP, which has not been discussed to any great degree in this place, and has never really been codified or identified. I then want to appeal for some simplicity in how we tackle the issues through the Bill. First, let us be clear: we are elected representatives of the people. We are here because our constituents chose us to represent their interests and to represent the nation on their behalf. We are here to air our constituents' grievances, but also to work in the interests of everyone, without fear or favour. It is important to make it clear that this is a representative democracy; Members come here, into an assembly, to make points on behalf of the people and the nation that sent them. I make that point because, with regard to the Bill, there could be a case for considering a way in which people could feed in directly on our pay, remuneration and expenses system. Like other hon. Members, I think that the issue of pay and expenses is a special case. It is the one case in which we vote on things that directly affect our own well-being. Another point to emphasise is that when we talk about parliamentary privilege we are talking not about the privilege of Members of Parliament, but about the people's privilege—the people's ability to express in the Chamber, through their Members of Parliament, points that otherwise may not be heard. We are talking about the ability of the public and Members of Parliament to speak to committees freely and openly. We are talking about the ability of Members of Parliament to speak freely and openly here in the Chamber, to voice sometimes controversial opinions, and to uncover things—sometimes unpopular things—that some would not wish to be uncovered. It would be incredibly difficult if parliamentary privilege were in any way undermined, and incredibly harmful to the people who sent us here. As for the context of the debate, it is quite clear that we are living in a major downturn—a recession—and people are feeling the pain of that. It is clear that we are discussing the issue now, in some ways under coercion due to media attention, because of—I will not hold back my language—a useless expenses system that in some ways seems designed to bring this place into disrepute. That is why we are bringing forward the Bill.