Scandal foreplay

Nothing has happened yet in today's scandal. 

No money has changed hands. No wrongdoing has been found. No consummation - only foreplay. Why did the Sunday Times prematurely end their attempt to trap the Lords? Money changed hands when they tried it in the Commons.

The House of Lords has always had permissive rules that invite financial mayhem. It's long been a minefield about to explode. They insist on declarations of interests but no revelations of the amount of cash received. 

The stunt by the Sunday Times is worrying for Labour. The last time they tried it they offered cash for questions to 20 MPs. All the Labour and Libdems MPs refused. Seven Tories swallowed the bait. Two were expelled from the House without pay for a period. Their reputations never recovered.  David Tredinnick remains an MP but he is a sad discredited figure lacking influence and indulging himself with bad science eccentricities. This time it's four Labour Lords who may be at fault.

 I will suspend judgement until the full details are known. However the reported admission by some of the them of past successes in influencing legislation are alarming. The Sunday Times are to be congratulated for testing the system. Last time it sent a shock wave through the Commons that terrified the spivs and crooks. Conduct changed. 

There are two lessons this time. The Lords rules must be overhauled.  They are far too permissive. Lobbying must be toughly regulated in line with report of the Public Administration Select Committee. We have given the lobbyists six months to reform themselves and create a mandatory register with transparency on all their contacts and meetings. If that does not happen, we will press for swift Government action.

If the Sunday Times' accusations are proved true and the Lords have been paid improperly by lobbyists in the recent past, it will prove that the Lords is judged to be a soft touch by the persuasion industry. Obama is leading the way by crippling the lobbying jobs hopes of Bush's ministers. The revolving door has been firmly jammed. 

We must act to ensure that access and influence is not up for sale by former ministers now clad in ermine.

Steel Worry

A dire forecast of mass redundancies in the steel industry was made by the BBC today.

Newport has already had a severe cut with the reduction in pay involving 500 Llanwern workers. The argument of MPs with steelworkers' constituents is the same, 'Save the jobs.' On BBC Wales this morning steelworkers agreed.

The industry has always been cyclical. I worked in steel from 1955 to 1984 and lived through countless crises. It was rarely stable. It was either feast or famine. There is now no escape from the consequences of the collapse of orders for steel in the car and the construction industries.

Our plea in Newport is the same as that heard in all other steel areas - "No long term damage because of a transitory crisis.'

Marine power

A warm welcome for today's  the five diverse plans for generating electricity from powerful Severn tides. my constituency is on the banks of the Severn estuary.

Tidal power is clean, non-polluting and eternal. It has vast potential in many forms - mills, lagoons and barrages. 

Marine is the major un-tapped source of renewable energy.  The Rance Barrage in Britany has been generating some of the cheapest electricity in the world for 38 years, without missing a single tide. Its equipment is still in pristine condition. 

While there are objections to developments on the scale of the Severn Barrage, other small scale mills, lagoons are practical short-term propositions. A chain of these around the Welsh coast could utilise pulses of tidal energy throughout the 24 hours of demand - storing energy at off-peak times by pumping water into storage lakes at the heads of the south Wales valleys. Power could then be generated by all

Comments

[medieval costumes]

There appear to be some right bounders in the HoL - indeed, I can think of one gentleman enobled only last year......

[GrahamMarlow]

It certainly needs some reform. Let's take just one of the names involved this time (and by singling one out I am not implying guilt or innocence)

George Mudie:

Why did he get a peerage?

Because he gave up his seat when there was a rejigging of his constituency, next to Brown's, which could have been awkard.

I don't think that is a good enough reason, any more than granting one to Clive Soley for sycophancy towards Blair

[Paul Flynn]

Thank you M. I am aware of the APPC rules which, of course, does not apply to the other two 'self-regulating associations or those lobbyists who are not members of any of the associations.

That is why PASC called for a mandatory scheme that will cover all lobbyists.

Of course no legislator should ever be bought. But what is the difference between a consultancy paying £100,000 and cash for amendments /questions?

[M]

The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) already bans its members from employing MPs or peers. So at least part of the lobbying industry already has its house in order on this one.

The question is, why doesn't Parliament? There can surely be no justification for any legislator accepting money to provide advice on influencing the legislative process. Ever. Yet both Houses of Parliament still permit this. It should be banned.

[Paul Flynn]

The HOL should be elected and they need strict rules on conduct. What is quicker and easier to do is to make lobbying transparent. PASC is on to that

[Graham Marlowe]

Fo reasons I don't understand, the following which I wrote flor this column posted into the "Spin strangled" piece:

I certainly think that no MP who has been forced to resign from the cabinet, for example, through impropriety of any sort, especially with regard to financial matters, should ever be given a peerage. That is asking for trouble. As the rules appear to be more relaxed in the HoL than the HocC that is asking for trouble in the future, and is almost an invitation for the errant former MP to continue to get up to their tricks.

[HuwOS]

Fair enough KayTie, not a terrible idea.
But rolling elections to the relatively powerless Lords would suffer from incredibly poor turnout.
Hard enough to get people to vote for their next government, try selling them the idea that voting for the 2nd house with the power to delay but not stop bills is important enough for them to stop watching daytime tv and voting on the xfactor, big brother et al.

[Kay Tie]

Why can't we have an elected Lords? Not from Party lists, but more along the lines of a senator in the US. Perhaps for a fixed 7 year term, with different Lords up for election at different times in the country.

The Lords would then run to a different electoral cycle, with no particular timetable. It would be impossible to drive a campaign on a faddish issue that would affect the whole Lords at the same time, and the Lords would always have continuity. This means that wisdom could be applied to amending and blocking legislation so that ill-thought through rubbish (e.g. every "send a message" law - as if laws are press releases) would be bounced back.

[Paul Flynn]

Graham, PASC is pushing for a long list of nominees for peerages so that the lickspittles and talentless party hacks can be weeded out. The present system feeds on patronage and mediocrity

[Paul Flynn]

Thanks Huw.

the Harry Potter connection is spooky. But I believe that the 'Snape' in the books is now a goody

[Graham Marlowe]

I think part of the problem is that some former MPs are made Lords, not for ability or gtalent but because they have been obsequiously loyal to their party (and though I am not for one moment suggesting that he is in any way guilty of any offence) Cluive Soley is one name who comes to mind - more or less sacked from the position of Chairman of the PLP because the MPs felt he was too subservient to Blair's whims. What did Mr Soley ever do to justify a title apart from this?

There appear to be some right bounders in the HoL - indeed, I can think of one gentleman enobled only last year......

[HuwOS]

A full investigation is need, the allegations alone are a further blow to the lords and the labour party.

However, for Harry Potter fans, there is the sheer joy of one of these possibly slippery and devious lords being blessed with the name of Snape.