Douglas Carswell's Blog

We need Real Recall - not this bogus Bill

Alongside Zac Goldsmith, I spent this morning in front of a Commons select committee explaining why we need a recall mechanism to allow local voters to sack lazy or wayward MPs.

The government has come forward with what it calls a recall proposal. Yet their proposal manages to get it 180 degrees the wrong way round.

Real recall ought to make MPs accountable to the people with two simple stages:

1.  The Petition – Before anyone is recalled, 20 percent of local people would have to petition the local returning officer to conduct a recall ballot - AND, the majority of local voters would then have to vote to approve the MP's recall.

2.  The Recall ballot - Only if over half of those whom an MP is supposed to serve voted "yes" to the question "Should your MP be recalled?", would there then be a by election (or perhaps one might call it the bye bye election?).

Real recall puts the trigger in the hands of the majority of constituents.  Fearful of vexatious attempts to unseat MPs, the government's draft proposals puts the trigger mechanism in the hands of a huddle of SW1 insiders.  

Under the government’s proposals, an MP could be turfed out of office by a committee of grandees in Westminster, with the approval of a mere one in ten constituents.    

What makes anyone think that the Westminster insiders are incapable of being vexatious?  Do you think George Galloway or Ken Livingstone would have always been given a fair hearing?  What about John Wilkes? 

Why not trust a panel of independent experts - known as the local electorate - instead, to decide by a majority verdict what is vexatious and what is legitimate concern?

Rather than making politicians outwardly accountable, the government’s proposals will hand the Westminster establishment the power to oust MPs that might well meet the approval of the voters – but fall foul of the SW1 club.  Nor am I convinced that Westminster grandees would necessarily give an MP guilt of a minor infringement a fair hearing in the middle of a media fire storm.

Real recall would mean that the people would once again control Parliament. That would ensure that Parliament once again began to control the government. 

And guess who doesn't want that to happen ....

Back to all posts