I’m trying to get some details on the Brown / Starmer plans for how the UK is run and the constitutional plans they are putting forward. And to work out if its a good thing.
Completely change the current unelected upper chamber, the house of lords. “It should be replaced with a new Assembly of the Nations and Regions of a much smaller size than the Lords at present.” I think the idea is to have representation from around the UK, voted in but with a different electoral cycle than for the house of commons.
Brown’s Commission highlights that the number of civil servants has increased dramatically in recent years and 70% are London based, but regional councils have been depleted of resources. It acknowledges current plans to move 20,000 jobs out of London but proposes this goes further.
The Commission proposes banning the vast majority of second jobs for MPs - but there will be some, limited exceptions. It states: “The MPs’ Code of Conduct should be strengthened with a general prohibition on second jobs by Members of Parliament, with few exceptions for employment required to maintain professional memberships, such as medicine”.
The report slams how Job Centres are currently run, claiming the existing “Whitehall-led approach to supporting people back into work has failed”. It proposes devolving their administration in order for them to “work for local communities” while also offering advice on those wanting to start businesses. The Commission suggests they could even be integrated with local community health services "tailored to people’s needs’’.
A new Independent Integrity and Ethics Commissions would take on the role of probing breaches of the code of conduct by ministers. Decisions about whether rules have been breached “should be made by a wholly independent body of people who are not politicians”, it adds. I assume this would cover the upper chamber representatives as well (Ms Mone take note).
Highlighting that too many parts of the UK suffer from “poor, or even non-existent” public transport, the report says local leaders and mayors “cannot do enough about this”. The UK has the most centralised budget management of any developed country - most countries have significant (up to half of the total) budget control managed at regional levels. The report raises the prospect of local mayors being given powers to shape rail services, fares services and timetables while devolving controls over bus services to councils.
I’m leaning to very much supporting all of this. What do others think? (Note - please address the proposals and don’t just slag off Brown, Starmer or Labour.)
Why when Brown was pm did he not implement these things then.IMO it’s like all opposition parties big on talk but once in power little substance.Its like the NHS that to needs sorting but no one is big enough to grasp that nettle.
I think there is some interesting proposals in that list, well worth consideration.
(As to why Brown didn’t consider them whilst in Government - maybe it’s the age-old story of when you’re in the thick of it, you are often too busy fire-fighting the day to day problems to sit back and think about the bigger picture.
Retirement brings you time for reflection plus the experience of doing the job and some hindsight of what could have been done better.)
On the 1st point about election of an Upper House, I like the idea of representation from all regions but I would worry about public elections of all members of the Upper House.
One of the strengths of the House of Lords is that there are members who have been chosen for their expertise and experience in their profession, such as medical experts and legal expertise, which can be invaluable when considering proposed changes to policy and legislation.
Not all specialists in their field are adept at the kind of “vote-catching” performances that would capture the interest of the public, even though the work they do is vital for the public interest.
I would not want the Upper House to end up being composed of individuals who have the PR and charisma to appeal to the public voters without any important specialist knowledge, so the nomination / voting system would need to be different to the way that MPs and political elections are usually made.
I definitely feel a bias towards these measures. Especially abolishing the H O L, in favour of an elected Upper House. It should also include the abolishing of hereditary peerages, and honours for favours. I also like the idea of a more robust and effective policing of MPs, and finally (for this rant) cutting the numbers in the H O C. So for me YES bring on the changes.
I note in the news that the SNP is largely complaining that this doesn’t devolve power enough. Not really a surprise as Gordon Brown is very much the unionist. I guess the SNP fear such changes as proposed by Brown would dilute the case for independence.
