Politics

6 December 2008

Fraser Nelson reviews the week in politics

So Westminster is in a poor position to protest too loudly over the Met’s raid: its view of itself as a national treasure protected by sacred conventions is not universally shared. Also, partly thanks to MPs’ failure to check the growth of the state, government agencies now have 266 powers to draw upon to enter people’s homes (versus ten in the 1950s and 70 in the 1990s). Many people have felt the effects of the new, more intrusive state in its various guises. If our legislators are now learning what it feels like to have your privacy bulldozered — well, voters’ hearts may not exactly bleed.

Mr Green’s arrest, simply for performing his duty to probe, scrutinise and if necessary embarrass the government, is a genuine outrage. But Parliament must be wary about looking like an organisation in decline, worried chiefly about its own privileges. The way to address this problem is to look at it in the round and in a historical perspective. There is an urgent need to address the alarming decline in Westminster’s stature, and a burning need to restore its reputation. The root problem is one that started long before the Special Branch started laying Mr Green’s office bare.

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Bickers

December 4th, 2008 9:56am Report this comment

Very aptly stated. It's MP's that have passed the draconian laws that they now whinge about when it comes to one of their own being targeted. Parliament needs to embark on a mission to cull many of the intrusive and anti democratic laws (including those from the EU) that have been passed these last eleven years, mainly by using fear and scare stories to cow the electorate and most MP's.
Only when citizens see the State being removed from their daily lives will most begin to respect Parliament.

L Stewart

December 5th, 2008 9:59pm Report this comment

The police have been acting more like the Vopos & Stasi than bobbies for years now in their treatment of anybody (from the BNP to little old ladies) who dares to oppose Labour's intolerant political correctness.
Yes, their action against Mr Green was inappropriate, but Mr Brown knows that the public has little sympathy for MPs of any side. They all seem as arrogant,
smug, greedy, dishonest and cynical as each other, so why would the public rally to their defence ? Probably laugh, actually.

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