the Party Whip and the Career MP

A good article from yesterday's First Post covering the rise of the Careerus Parliamentarianus - another genotype in the opposite vein to Rogus Parliamentarianus.

MPs towing the party line can at least look forward to the prospect of ministerial and cabinet positions. If you don't follow the party whip you're pretty much stuck as a backbench MP - and without another income/career your job prospects aren't exactly gonna be great.

All the same, it'll be fun asking them to support the Misrepresentation of the People Act ...

Ministry of Truth : Do you believe in honesty, transparency and accountability ?

MP : Absolutely, it's the foundation of our democracy.

Ministry of Truth : Did you know there's no law which requires these from an MP and allows the electorate to legally hold them to account for lying ?

MP : Yes, but there are Parliamentary bodies and commissioners that handle this.

Ministry of Truth : Precisely, they all report to either Parliament or the PM - you can't be judge and jury in your own trial. Even Sir Philip Mawer (the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards) admitted there's a gap.

MP : Did he ? I seem to remember his predecessor mentioning that. I think you'll find our system delivers the most honest and accountable government anywhere in the world.

Ministry of Truth : That's not the point. You're representing our sovereignty and there's no form of independent legal redress for us to hold our elected representatives to account.

MP : That would undermine the very basic principle of Parliamentary sovereignty.

Ministry of Truth : Exactly, it's our sovereignty and we've drafted a bill which enshrines the honesty and accountability of our elected representatives in law, it's called the Misrepresentation of the People Act - will you propose it for us in Parliament ?

MP : Is that the time ? Blimey, I've a constituency meeting to get to.

Beginners guide to the MINISTRY OF TRUTH

Who knew such a simple question would unravel our 300+ year old constitution ?

It started with a phone call to the Citizens Advice Bureau…

"How do I prosecute an MP for lying ?"


The Citizens Advice Bureau weren’t impressed and pointed us to the Parliamentary Ombudsman who were charmingly unable to help.

We figured we might as well see a lawyer and that's when things started to slide...

We argued that a whole bunch of people, from board members, to company directors, financial advisors, manufacturers, advertisers etc. are legally responsible if they deliberately make misleading statements or misrepresent the facts. There are laws in place (passed by the government) which say if they lie, we can pop down the Citizens Advice Bureau, get legal aid and ultimately see them in court.

Turns out, there's no way to prosecute your elected representative for lying.

We asked constitutional academics, Sir Philip Mawer - the parliamentary commissioner, Lord Tom Pendry, MartinBell OBE …

They said we can vote every 4 or 5 years at a general election.

Now, if you employed an agent to represent you on a five year contract and they started to lie in your name, there’s no court in the land that would force you to stick with them.

The discovery of a little known law in the state of Southern Australia (which makes it illegal to lie when campaigning for an election) combined with Professor Conor Gearty’s insights and a hilarious attempt by George Bathurst to prosecute the Deputy Prime Minister led us to the daunting conclusion - we need our own law.

But how’d you do that ? Especially a law that the Government won't be too happy to pass.

We asked St.Maurice Frankel – the man (Saint) behind the Freedom of Information Act. He’s the only person we could find who’s done such a thing.

Simple, he said, you need to get an MP to propose your Bill, then a majority in the House of Commons to vote for it. And that’s when the fun begins. Imagine asking your MP ;

“Do you believe in Honesty, Truth, Transparency and Accountability ?”. The answers gonna be… well, we imagine it'll be "of course, they're the foundation of a Liberal Democracy.

Now try asking if they’d help pass a law that gives us the power to enforce those values.

Welcome to...

We’re about to discuss the matter with the Lord Chancellor (Tony Blair's old flatmate and gatekeeper of the Constitution).

After that, if we're serious, we're gonna have to find ourselves an MP.

Watch this space.

De-briefing Martin Bell

Bell shares our view that Parliamentary self-regulation doesn't cut the mustard. Even Parliamentary watchdog Sir Philip Mawer (the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards) said there was a gap beyond reason when it comes to investigating our Government, and frankly, they're the guys we really need to be able to hold to account.

More importantly, self-regulation is innapropriate - if we (the people) give our sovereignty to our elected representatives then we should have the right to revoke it under certain circumstances. One such circumstance is when our elected representatives lie (for political gain as opposed to the public interest).

The law we mention in our interview with Martin Bell is current in the state of Southern Australia. The critical section states ;

"A person who authorises, causes or permits the publication of an electoral
advertisement (an "advertiser") is guilty of an offence if the advertisement
contains a statement purporting to be a statement of fact that is inaccurate and
misleading to a material extent."

Not much, but it's a start and sets a precedent - if you publish a lie for political gain it's a criminal offence. When we visited Professor Conor Gearty - the Motherlode of Constitutional law, he advocated the same thing in no uncertain terms.

It would seem the way forward is to get a bill passed - one that makes it illegal for our elected representatives to lie for political gain. One that we can invoke.

The very idea is daunting. How do you do such a thing ?. No government would pass such a bill. We need all the guidance we can get before seriously considering an attempt. Our intention is to find some kind of equivalent, a blueprint - some Bill that managed to make it's way onto the statute books despite the government.

Suggestions on a postcard please.

Martin Bell OBE

for Thee, the Bell tolls

Martin Bell, the man in the white suit, is someone we trust.

He spent most of his working life in some of the worlds most dangerous war zones so his time as an MP should've been a piece of cake. He served on the Committee for Standards and Privileges (the watchdog for the conduct of MPs) and is one of the few to speak out against the treatment of Sir Philip Mawer's (the Parliamentary Commissioner) predecessor - Elizabeth Filkin.

"The whispering campaign was not imaginary. It was real and intense. It coincided with her investigations into complaints against Peter Mandelson, John Reid and Keith Vaz, who were not only Labour MPs but government ministers at the time."

We asked him about the reality of MPs regulating themselves, Elizabeth Filkin and the idea of the People prosecuting the government when it lies to us.

To say we were surprised by his answers would be an understatement. We'll be posting the interview tomorrow.

The Story... so far

the Ministry of Truth started life as a simple question ; "How do you prosecute an MP/Minister for lying ?"

We're joking, right ?

If you have a contract with a company or individual and they lie to you, misrepresent the facts or make a misleading statement, you can pop down to the Citizens Advice Bureau and either get out of the contract or hold them to account. You're not stuck with it for another five years. So what if that individual happens to be on the board of Great Britain PLC ... an MP, a Minister ? and you're a shareholder ...Well, ... we wanted to find out...

[click on the links to see (or hear) the interviews or, for a compressed video summary, click here]

We started by calling the Citizens Advice Bureau - puerile, even childish I know - and asked them what kind of legal action we could take against an MP. It took them 30 minutes to come back with sweet FA (we've posted an edited recording for your amusement).

The C.A.B. did recommend we called the Parliamentary Ombudsman - who was charming to a fault but frankly not much cop. We were going round in circles so decided to take the offensive and see a Lawyer - "I want to prosecute an MP for lying.". Laugh - she nearly had a sense of humour.

How can it be right that we have no truly independent or legal redress to the guys we elect when they start mis-behaving ? We started some serious trawling on the web and came across two potential rays of light ;

1) George Bathurst - a Windsor based businessman who'd reported our Deputy Prime Minister to the Police under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

2) Professor Conor Gearty (the motherlode of constitutional law and the man who gave legal counsel on impeaching Blair)

Again, it turns out the government had covered their bases . The Police refused to take matters further with George Bathurst in an exchange of correspondence that made Monty Python look like a bunch of amateurs.

Professor Gearty explained in no uncertain terms the why and how our government has twisted Parliamentary Sovereignty into something it was never meant to be. They've tied us in knots. It looked like the end of the road.

Then out of no-where, Sir Philip Mawer (Parliamentary Commissioner who investigates complaints against MPs) returns our call and is willing to talk on camera. We expected government mouthpiece meaningless drivel - nothing could be further from the truth - we were on to something.

At the same time, we found a law in the state of Southern Australia that made it an offence for politicians to lie during an election... something Prof Gearty was strongly in favour of.

Finally, we plucked up the courage to make first contact with our elected representatives and ask them what they were up to. Residual cowardly instincts told us to tread carefully, so we went for ex-MPs. First to play ball was Lord Pendry (a Labour stalwart of 30 years) and frankly, as you can see , an all-round bizarre encounter . We also interviewed Martin Bell OBE (he sat on Parliament's main watchdog - the Committee for Parliamentary Standards and Priviledges).

You couldn't get two more contrasting opinions. Bell is the man who's inspired us to take it to the next level - why shouldn't there be a law against the elected representatives of the people effectively lying in our name or lying to us ? We asked him what he thought our chances were and nearly fell off our chairs at the answer...We'll be posting his interview in the next couple of days.

The question is - what next ? Accept the status quo or try to do something about it ? And even if you want to do something about it - where the hell do you start ?

We spent Xmas scouring for legal precedents like the law in Southern Australia for holding MP's to account and come up with another two. More info on them to be posted as soon as we've had feedback from our legal pros.

In the meantime, keep posting your suggestions and don't forget to vote ! (top of the right hand column)

Hello 2007

Apologies for the extended Xmas break - we've had our considerable noses to the legal grindstone, scouring for precedent on how the hell we hold our representatives in Parliament to account. We've made sterling progress and discovered some potent possibilities - more news on this once we've had some feedback from the professionals.

Meantime, for the un-initiated here's a 7 minute summary of our journey so far featuring Sir Philip Mawer (Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards), Lord Tom Pendry (Labour MP for 30 years), Professor Conor Gearty (the motherlode on constitutional law) and some poor soul at the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Real Deal

What started off as a simple question to the Citizens Advice Bureau - "I'd like to prosecute an MP for lying" has turned into a real eye-opener. Here's the real deal...

There is a simple fact obscured by a very sophisticated, highly evolved set of smoke and mirrors which lead the casual observer to believe there are healthy checks and balances keeping Parliament (especially Government) honest and accountable. Numerous Codes of conduct, Committees and Commissioners (we've got 'em coming out of our ears). Many of them are staffed by dedicated individuals of the highest integrity - the problem is they all report back to Parliament or Blair - the guys they've been appointed to investigate.

The need for the smoke and mirrors is simple : We, the people, are sovereign.

We elect a set of MPs to represent our sovereignty in Parliament at a general election. Those with the majority form a government and run the country on our behalf. Their obligation is to legislate in our best interests.

That means ;

1) Our transfer of sovereignty to MPs at a general election is based on two things - party manifesto and past performance.

and it follows...

2) We can’t accurately assess past performance or promises if they can mislead us and misrepresent the facts (lying is an un-parliamentary word).

However, as we've discovered…

• There are no truly independent organs (such as the judiciary) which we can invoke to hold them to account for misleading/misrepresenting to us.

and...

• A general election - is our only legal means of redress if MPs or Government lie.

So ...

How the hell are we supposed to seperate the good guys from the bad ? More importantly, without the threat of direct redress from the electorate, where's there incentive to be honest ?

These thoughts will be keeping us busy over Xmas.

Our question has shifted focus, but still remains gloriously simple...

“Why can't the electorate prosecute their representatives for lying to them ?"

We’ll be researching hard for some kind of legitimate answer.

Tomorrow will be our last post until the New Year.

the Motherlode - Professor Conor Gearty

You can't help but love Professor Conor Gearty, it's his examples of MPs "machine-gunning people they don't like in the street" and the lilt of his accent, but the similarities pretty much end there. He's advised governments all over the world on subjects as wide ranging as Terrorism, Torture and Tony (they turned to him for counsel on locking up our Prime Minister).

We've tried the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, lawyers and even George Bathurst - the man who reported our Deputy Prime Minister to the Police - none of it looks promising, but if anyone can unravel Parliamentry sovereignty and find a way for the public to put a stop to its government lying - the Professor is that man.

Hang upon his every word...

Impeach Blair ? Call Conor Gearty...

When Adam Price MP wanted the highest legal opinion on whether Blair could be impeached for the invasion of Iraq, he turned to Professor Gearty BCL (NUI), LLB(Cantab), PhD (Cantab) and Barrister for good reason - he advises governments too numerous to mention on everything from Terrorism to Torture and of course Tony .

In an effort to figure out how we can stop MPs from lying we've tried the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Lawyers and even George Bathurst - the man who reported our Deputy Prime Minister to the Police - none of it looks good. In a last ditch attempt - we went to the motherlode. He agreed to an interview - and we'll be posting it soon. If anybody can find a way this is the man.

the Man who shopped John Prescott

Reporting the Deputy Prime Minister to the Police is not for the faint of heart - but George Bathurst, a Windsor-based businessman was so pissed off with the Right Honourable Two Jags refusal to answer questions in Parliament (over gifts and hospitality he received from US tycoon - Mr Anschutz - angling to put a super-casino in the Millennium Dome) he decided to do something about it. In our quest to find out how we can hold MPs to account for economy with the truth, we interviewed Mr Bathurst.

If you're expecting some cigar-chomping ego-maniac behind an over-sized desk, you'll be... well... you'll see what we mean...

So far, so shit.

As far as lying to the electorate goes - it looks like there's no law requiring honesty from an MP. Anybody else (especially a corporation) makes a misleading or mis-representative statement purporting to be a statement of fact, they're knee deep in the brown smelly stuff - any one of us can walk into a Citizens Advice Bureau and take them to court. If you're a shareholder in Great Britain PLC, and one of the directors/board members you've voted for lies - there's bugger all you can do that resembles anything like legal redress.

However, there is a small ray of light...
George Bathurst - a Windsor-based business man instigated proceedings (under the Prevention of Corruption Acts) against the Right Honourable John Prescott over the hospitality and gifts he received from Philip Anschutz, the Guvnor at AEG who wants to build a Super Casino at the veritable Millenium Dome. Prescott's department are handling the future of the site and it appears honourable John failed to declare the trip to Anschutz's ranch or the gifts he received there and subsequently refused to answer questions in Parliament on the issue.


Not only did Bathurst report Prescott to the Police, he's also instigated proceedings against Mr Anschutz in the US. It occurs to us Anschutz may well have a legitimate defence with "that cowboy outfit wasn't a gift, it was a statement."

We've tracked down Mr Bathurst to find out what he's got against two Jags (two shags) and exactly how you go about prosecuting an MP for telling porkies.

the Lawyers

Oh how they laughed. You'd have thought solicitors would be biting your hand off for a piece of this action - but lawyer after lawyer said forget it. We figured they thought there'd be no money in it - we were wrong. In the end, Christian Khan came to our rescue - a medium sized firm who handle civil rights litigation - they said there wasn't much they were scared of and I believe them - as we waited for our interview the receptionist was dishing out over the phone - "Look - have you been sectioned or not ?".

Sadly, our time with them was short, sweet and didn't go as well as we hoped ...

the call to the Parliamentary Ombudsman

The Parliamentary Ombudsman offices were clearly a better work environment than the misery our girl from the Citizens Advice Bureau was living in.

Maybe it was just me.

How do you prosecute an MP ?

We're Citizens, we wanted Advice, we called the Bureau...