14th May, 2010 (updated 17th May)
I’m not agreeing much with the Guardian these days. But Vikram Dodd is bang-on.
First move under the ‘new politics’ of the Coalition is to rig the constitution.
Please don’t be fooled by any of the spin around it.
1) last week, Cameron was complaining about so-called ‘unelected prime ministers’. So much so, that he swore to legislate against them when he got to power. Any ‘unelected’ prime minister must submit himself to a general election within six months, he cried. Now he’s changed his tune. He’s suggesting legislation for fixed parliaments, the point of which is to allow governments (and prime ministers) to change without going back to the voters. It’s breathtaking.
Which man do we listen to? Last week’s Cameron, or this week’s?
If you want to make a constitutional change to a fixed parliament, put it in your manifesto next time round. You can change the rules-of-the-game for future parliaments, but not the existing one. As it happens, I quite like the idea of a fixed parliament. (Though I think five years is too long.) But the point is, it’s the opposite of what Cameron was selling us during the election.
2) if you like the idea of fixed parliaments, don’t be fooled by the notion (peddled by Gummer on Radio 4 today) that they stop a government rigging tax-giveaways etc to make elections easier to win. They don’t change that – in fact they even give the government a very clear date to work towards!
3) if you like the idea of fixed parliaments – and this is the key disgrace – don’t be fooled by the idea that ‘stability’ justifies a 55% rule. It simply doesn’t. Look at the maths of the current parliament.
Can Labour and the LibDems combined force an election? No.
Can Labour and the LibDems and every other MP combined force an election? No. (They could only muster 53%)
Can anyone force an election without at least some Tory votes? No.
You only need a 55% majority if you want to immunize the Tories against all possible alternative coalitions.
In that context, Cameron’s historic generosity in ‘handing back to parliament’ the right to call an election beggars belief. His language on this issue reveals his real attitude to the primacy of parliament – “I’ve made this change,” he boasts on television (BBC, 14th May) as if it were his change to make. It is not. As if it were a done deal. It is not. This will need to go before parliament. And parliament will decide.
Here’s more: The 55% trick: protecting you from democracy | Vikram Dodd | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.
