30 October 1976 The international Catholic weekly 25p
On Transkei independence: Mona Macmillan Inflation - the way in: Cincinnatus EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT: Memories of a Catholic childhood •Irish ecumenics -The drug scene now* Hollis at Stonyhurst peddling has not changed. M any M Ps still see in te rest-g roup affiliations as simply a reflection o f th e ir overall responsibility to th e ir voters. This is n o t especially surprising, o r wrong.
Independent members of Parliament The rep u ta tio n o f members o f P a rliam en t is p ro bably lower now in more people’s eyes th a n it has ever been. This is a tragedy. Though th e re have been periods in h isto ry when M Ps have behaved less th an im peccably, th e ir s tand in g with the public was generally high when they did no t have the right to vote fo r him, and when knowledge o f how politics was conducted did not spread beyond a com paratively narrow coterie o f the lite ra te and well-born. In th e 1970s, when everyone has a television as well as a vote, cynicism about politicians knows few bounds. Upon this deplorable condition the incessant reverberations o f the Poulson a ffa ir continue to have an impact.
W hat is unacceptable is the com p lacency o f M Ps, led by the senior ones, in th e ir underlying belief th a t the rules o f th e club should n o t be subject to outside scrutiny. There is a good case fo r preserving the im m unity o f M P s from p ro secu tio n fo r what they say in the cham ber. But this presum es a d iscip lin ary punctilio in the House itself which does not now exist. The grey a rea between business o r tra d e union work and political work, which will always be present, needs scrutiny from those who u n d e rs ta nd it best. At th e m om ent it does no t get it: least of all from th e Comm itte e on Privileges.
The latest stories a b o u t the re la tio ns o f some M Ps with Mr Poulson, the ja iled Yorkshire a rch ite c t, reopen a grey and inconclusive a rea . It is no t o u r in ten tio n to exam ine the details o f the charges made in the Observer. But the occasion p rom p ts the u rgent question: in what ways can M Ps hope to reverse the tide o f opinion and restore th e ir s tanding? We believe th e re are two avenues o f cynicism , dem anding d ifferent responses.
It is true th a t sheer venality is one a rea of suspicion. Compared with m any continental Parliam en ts , and the United S ta te s Congress, life a t W estm in s ter is e x tra o rd in a r ily free o f jo bbery and favour-seeking. But by ou r s ta ndards, conflicts o f in terest p reventing a member from do in g his honest dem ocratic du ty a re no t unknow n . T rade union and business links alike may affect a m an’s political ju dgem en t. These may be s tro nger th a n his view o f him self as a free man. This is a quite defensible position , bu t, on th e g rounds th a t the public has a right to know how such influences may play on different MPs, the Commons created a register o f m em bers’ interests. The first edition was published a year ago. R egistration, however, was n o t made com pulsory, and the definition o f “ in terests” was left to the individual MP. D iscrepancies o f in te rp re ta tio n and practice are th erefore num erous. The quality o f life o r speech-m aking o r influence
But m ore d iligent self-regulation is only the beginning. Im p ropriety is not the g reatest cause o f concern. Im potence and incom petence are graver weaknesses. Coincidentally with the echoes o f Poulson and the Prim e M in is te r’s decision to set up a special Commons comm ittee to exam ine it, came the rep o r t o f th e Public Accounts Comm itte e , chaired by Mr Edward du C ann. This was th e last o f a series o f inquiries this session in to the inefficiency o f W h itehall d ep a r tm en ts and their system s o f budgetary contro l. M r du C ann to o k the oppo r tu n ity to make a loud a t ta c k on th e quality as well as the quan tity o f public spending.
W hat he said was tru e enough, and fam iliar. W hat his comm ittee does is valuable work, exposing some som etim es staggering exam p les o f cost-escalation and lapses o f supervision. But th e real im p lication lies deeper. It is th a t Parliam en t collectively and M Ps individually a re negligent in perform in g what the te x tb o o k s say is one o f th e ir central constitu tio nal tasks: sanction in g the spending o f public money. Despite reform s in the 1960s, Parliam en t is still a quite puny influence a t the first crucial stage o f public spending—when policy is made. The E xpenditure Comm itte e , grow ing ou t o f the Estim ates Comm itte e , was m eant to play a bigger part. But the
