Flicking the V's to Mp's

Today Permanent Secretary Jonathan Stephens was asked by the Public Accounts Committee about guidance he gave to Jeremy Hunt special adviser Adam Smith re passing information to News international during its bid for BskyB.

For 10 minutes , he refused to answer questions about his role, the footage is here.

His Official position is

" The permanent secretary did not feel it was appropriate to provide further information ahead of the department's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry ”

2 things strike the writer :-

He refused to answer as too his own conduct

and

There is no suggestion (yet) that Jonathan Stephens will give evidence to Leveson

Now my late mother was a civil servant and I have a HUGE admiration for these maligned creatures. But the civil service must be independent of politics and answerable.

Any MP who uses civil servants as political footballs is acting shamefully. Without a doubt the invasion of spads and the conduct of some MPs and ministers has eroded the independence.

Confirming facts can not be prejudicial. Probably the select committee would not have left it there and he knew it and then showdown the conversation.

So Jonathan Stephens wins my big balls award of the day, but also almost ( but didnt ) wins my Twonk of the day award.

I want to hear his answer as to his role and then decide.

Economic Burdens Not Fairly Shared

Globespan has released details of a survey that the have conducted on behalf of the BBC World Service.

61% of 11,740 people interviewed across 22 countries ( including the UK ) believe that economic burdens are being unfairly distributed among populations.

The percentage of dissatisfaction has increased from previous surveys.

Not surprising, but a further indication of strains between citizens and their masters. 

The UK is now officially in recession which ( using the Spanish data within the survey ) is only going to result in an increase of anger and pain in the UK electorate.

However, would an economic miracle and a dramatic increase in wealth across the board persuade everybody that the current economic model is perfect ?

Put another way, would a unregulated free market resulting in the magic " silver bullet " convince the British that there should be no regulation of banks, big business etc ?

I genuinely think not. There are generations that will never forget the current economic downturn and the behaviour of the City and the banks,

Therefore some sort of regulation of business and markets is a prerequisite to a citizens perception of well being. If this principal is accepted then the only questions that remain are :-

What types of regulation ?

How much regulation ?

Who regulates the regulator ?

Small government does not sit easily with this ethos nor does " light touch regulation ".

Nor does the mantra " keep the markets happy " because the markets will scream blue murder at any controls on their behaviour.

The moral of the story is that whenever you hear a politician, economist or worst of all, a " City expert " saying that the government must bow to market forces  and deregulate, what you really hearing is that person saying " screw you ! I/we don’t care as to your well being "

Good to remember this next time you vote.

30% of UK Electorate will not to vote !

The Hansard Society has just published their annual report on engagement of the UK electorate with politics.

Its depressing and scary.

The BBC has a good summary here.

To summaries the BBC report keys points :-

"

• 42% of people said they were interested in politics - down 16% on 2010 and the lowest figure since the audit was first carried out
• 48% of people said they would definitely vote if a general election was called tomorrow - down 10% from last year and again, the lowest figure in the audit's history
• 30% said they were unlikely or absolutely certain not to vote - up 10% from 2010
• 24% of people believe the current system of coalition government is working "reasonably well" - a fall of 7%
• 56% agree their involvement in politics locally could bring about change, but only 38% actually want to be involved

"

The single most shocking finding is the decline in people willing to exercise their democratic rights and vote.

Compare this to the first round of the French Presidential Elections which had a turnout of over 80%.

In recent times the turnout for UK general elections had risen,

Can we draw any conclusions from the fact that voter disillusion in France results in high turnout, whilst in the UK the same disillusion drives down the vote ?

Could it be that in the UK the " engagement " between our elected representatives and citizens is so broken that significant numbers of people consider that it is a waste of time to vote ?

Simply, the answer is yes !

If true, the social disengagement millions of people from our government can only lead to disaster and social breakdown. Remember the riots of summer 2011 ?

There is no easy answer but it starts with effort, by everyone to win back the trust in an essential relationship. So if you are an elected representative, ignore the spin doctors, ignore the spads and engage with real people. Face to face is good, twitter is good etc

I wish that on every ballot paper there was a " none of the above " option. If every candidate knew that that they could all be rejected its a different voting model.

And if you don't vote then you are a Twonk !

Andrew Neil Despairing !

On yesterdays ( always excellent ) Daily Politics Andrew Neil (@afneil ) lost the plot with Claire Perry  ( (@claire4devizes) about the further monies being advanced by the UK to the IMF.

Its always worth watching the Daily Politics but if your short of time jump to 40 minutes in and sit back for some bad tempered fun !

My Favourite MP of the Day is ?

My favourite MP of the day is ....

Grant Shapps ( @grantshapps )

My new best friend wins this dubious honor for being the first MP ( and Minister ) to follow @taken4granteduk on twitter.

Thanks ! and if its not out of order can you build some more houses please ?

MP's are Paid too Little !

MP's are paid too little !

In all honesty i think I probably believe this.

Last Night I cheekily retweeted this :-

"Why don't we make MP's pay regional if the govt starting to talk about it for everything else? "

( origin Shiv Malik @shivmalik1)

I strongly believe that our representatives should be :-

• The brightest we can find !
• The best educated academically and real world battle hardened.
• Paid enough, to attract talent !
• Diverse.
• Actually represent us ! Not the political party they belong too !

I cannot find anybody who thinks that your social background should be an automatic disbar to being an MP but not giving a toss about people from different social classes should be !

The MP's expenses scandal ( and it was a scandal ) would probably have been avoid if the remuneration system for MPs had/and did operate like a commercial organisation.


Why cannot an MP's private office operate like a limited company ? New MP takes over as MD and operates  " the business ".

Similarly, for accommodation, company lets are done everyday for staff and contractors moving around the country. Why is it so complicated ?

But back to salary.  many MP's claim to have taken a pay cut to become an MP and some use this as positive selling point. Why ?

The " public service , make a difference " answer is often trotted out ( and valid, in some cases only ) but its possible to make positive changes to people lives being a doctor, social worker, teacher etc so why be an MP ?.

Michael Portillo has stated that he became an MP to exercise power as a minister and eventually being a constituency MP didn't cut for him.

MP's should be ambitious powerhouse's who never take the path of least resistance.

With the current mess we need the best and if that takes an attractive salary so be it ! Some direct link to performance ( although i have no idea how ? ) would be good.

As to whether MP's pay is regional ? if its good enough for other areas of public sector pay then I would love to hear a reasoned argument as to why MP's should be different ? 

Nadine is a Star !!!

Nadine Dorries ( @NadineDorriesMP ) is a star !

An MP whose politics I usually find conflict with, today, took a brave and unusual step and said what a lot of people have always believed !

To quote my current favorite MP ( for today only ! ) :-

"Unfortunately, I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others - and that is their real crime."

and you too can witness this gem here.