Unaccountable

Matthew Parris says that holding Gorbals Mick (I thought he was a Jock?) accountable is not the job of the public or the media but of MPs.

I don't think the question of whether Mr Speaker Martin should resign is any business of mine, or yours, or the British media's, or the British public's. I think it's for sitting MPs, and for Mr Martin himself, to consider and decide. And in making that decision I doubt that he or they should take much notice of any of us.

Now this is all very well, but we have also been told in recent days that no sitting MP will risk criticising the speaker for fear of never being called to speak again. All we've had is a chorus of Labour MPs cheering him to the rafters and making vague claims of snobbery.

This one-sidedness is so pronounced, it completely undermines the idea that MPs can hold the speaker to account. So it's pretty much inevitable that the press and the blogs are going to have to do the work for them.

Mind you, if the idea of recall referendums ever takes off, then we might have real public accountability.  

Comments

[Novus]

"Mind you, if the idea of recall referendums ever takes off, then we might have real public accountability."

It occurs to me that even if we did have a system of recall referenda, only the electorate of a particular consituency would be able to recall the MP in question, even if he held a national role or an office of state. Are we to believe that the electors of Glasgow Northeast could be relied upon to take the views of the rest of the country into account when considering such a recall, or is it more likely that, army of Labour client voters as they are, they would close ranks behind him?

[Bishop Hill]

Miracles have been known to happen...