Can prospective Independent MPs trust Cameron and Clegg’s ‘welcome’?

Are Cameron and Clegg both zealous for reform on everything – except that which actually matters?

Both have said positive things about the prospect of many more Independent MPs.

Cameron welcomed the idea and said that they should come within the Tory fold.

Prospective MPs however should read the small print. Cameron also said, as something of a self-contradiction, that of course Independents would also be bound by collective responsibility concerning leadership policies and what was in the manifesto. How much does that leave Independents to be independent about?

Mr Clegg said he would only support a general election if it was a catalyst for sweeping parliamentary reforms.

“I would like to see an election yesterday [but] I think it would be a massive betrayal if we were to have a few new faces but the same old rotten rules. We’ve got to use this election to change the rules,” he said.

“It would be a great betrayal if we don’t rebuild British politics.”

Listing new rules for party funding, an elected House of Lords and forbidding MPs to have second jobs as key to reform, Mr Clegg said: “Look at the murky way in which parties are funded…

“If you don’t now deal with party funding I can bet you I’ll be sitting in this seat in six months time talking about a funding scandal.”

On second jobs, he said: “What MPs are there for…is to represent constituents. I don’t think they can do that if they’re running mini businesses of their own.”

Calling the House of Lords a “clapped out 19th Century chamber”, he added: “The House of Lords is a standing offence to everything I believe in.”

Mr Clegg then went onto welcome independents running for parliament: “I really welcome a lot of independents coming in and saying – I’m going to challenge these party stooges.

“New independent candidates throw down a challenge to all party MPs to do better,” he said.

He also denied he’d benefited from the Speaker’s departure, and said all candidates – from any party – must be “zealots for reform”.
via page.politicshome.com

The electorate and or commentators still aren’t getting the really important points. – the ABC of the situation. Independents are necessary and vital precisely because we are sick of tired Toryism and Labourism. The ABC of the situation is;

A) Fair Voting (Proportional Representation). The Lib Dems aren’t talking about it. Why? The only person I heard mention it was the Labour MP Austin Mitchell!

B) MPs should be free to group around and vote on issues as mandated by their electorate and or their consciences. This might mean voting occasionally or frequently with one, or more, Party groups. For this they need skills of consultation and dialogue to rapidly group and re-group – skills that perhaps are not highly developed in some of today’s MPs.

C) The need to operate with transparent accountability.