Here's the missing source [highlighted] . It's not only what Cameron
said. it's what he wrote.
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GUARDIAN 25/6.5.09
A new politics: Electoral reform
We'll consider fixed-term parliaments, but not proportional
representation, as many in the Guardian series have demanded
. David Cameron
We also need to look seriously at the immense power prime ministers
wield through their ability to call an election whenever they want. I
know there are strong political and moral arguments against fixed-
term parliaments.
Political - because there's nothing worse than a lame-duck government
with a tiny majority limping on for years. And moral - because when a
prime minister has gone into an election and won it promising to
serve a full term, but then hands over to an unelected leader halfway
through, the people deserve an election as soon as possible. These
arguments are of course particularly relevant today. But I believe
the arguments for fixed-term parliaments are strengthening too. If we
want parliament to be a real engine of accountability, we need to
show it's not just the creature of the executive.
That's why a Conservative government will seriously consider the
option of fixed-term parliaments when there's a majority government.
But it's also why a Conservative government will not consider
introducing proportional representation, as many participants in A
New Politics have demanded. The principle underlying all the
political reforms a Conservative government would make is the
progressive principle of redistributing power and control from the
powerful to the powerless. PR would actually move us in the opposite
direction, which is why I'm so surprised it's still on the wish-list
of progressive reformers. Proportional representation takes power
away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the
political elites. Instead of voters choosing their government on the
basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party
managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom
deals. How is that going to deliver transparency and trust?
But the tragic truth today is that no matter how much we strengthen
parliament or hold government to account, there will still be forces
at work in our country that are completely unaccountable to the
people of Britain - people and organisations that have huge power and
control over our daily lives and yet which no citizen can actually
get at. Almost half the regulations affecting our businesses come
from the EU. And since the advent of the Human Rights Act, judges are
increasingly making our laws. The EU and the judges - neither of them
accountable to British citizens - have taken too much power over
issues that are contested aspects of public policy, and which should
therefore be settled in the realm of democratic politics.
It's no wonder people feel so disillusioned with politics and
parliament when they see so many big decisions that affect their
lives being made somewhere else. So a progressive reform agenda
demands that we redistribute power from the EU to Britain, and from
judges to the people.
We will therefore hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty; pass a law
requiring a referendum to approve any further transfers of power to
the EU; negotiate the return of powers, and require far more detailed
scrutiny in parliament of EU legislation, regulation and spending.
And we will introduce a British bill of rights to strengthen our
liberties, spell out the extent and limit of rights more clearly, and
ensure proper democratic accountability over the creation of any new
rights.
But when it comes to lack of accountability, no one and nothing beats
the quangos. Quasi-autonomous non-?governmental organisations. Their
name is as dire as their impact on our society. There are over 500 of
these things in Britain, whose power and influence can be seen
everywhere. But aren't serious political issues too important to be
left to unaccountable quangos?
Everything that I have spoken about - redistributing power to people,
and
reinstating accountability in our politics - all of it will, I hope,
help get more people involved in politics and public policy, and help
end that despairing sense of powerlessness that pervades our society.
But there's one more item on the agenda: transparency.
Ask most people where politics ?happens and they'd paint a picture of
tight-knit tribes making important decisions in wood-panelled rooms,
speaking a strange language. If we want people to have faith and get
involved, we need to defeat this impression by opening politics up:
making everything transparent, accessible - and human. And the
starting point for reform should be a near-total transparency of the
political and governing elite, so people can see what's being done in
their name.
Transparency tears down the hiding places for sleaze, overspending
and corruption. Soon enough all MPs' expenses are going to be
published online for everyone to see: I and the rest of the shadow
cabinet are already doing it. And if we win the next election, we're
going to do the same for all other public servants earning over
£150,000. Just imagine the effect that an army of armchair auditors
is going to have on those expense claims.
Indeed, the promise of public scrutiny is going to have a powerful
effect on over-spending of any variety. A Conservative government
will put all national spending over £25,000 online for everyone to
see, so citizens can hold the government to account for how their tax
money is being spent. And we will extend this principle of
transparency to every nook and cranny of politics and public life,
because it's one of the quickest and easiest ways to transfer power
to the powerless and prevent waste, exploitation and abuse.
That's why all our Conservative candidates for the European
parliament have signed a pledge setting out new standards of
transparency and ethical behaviour. All Conservative MEPs elected
next week will publish online a breakdown of all office costs;
details of all travel; the names of each member of staff they employ;
and details of all meetings with businesses, lobbyists and other
interest groups.
But transparency isn't just about cleaning up politics, it's also
about opening up politics. Right now a tiny percentage of the
population crafts legislation that will apply to 100% of the
population. This locks out countless people across the country whose
expertise could help. So why not invite them in on the process? We'll
create a right of initiative nationally, where if you collect enough
signatures you can get your proposals debated in the House of Commons
and become law. And we'll open up the legislative process in other
ways too.
----------------------------------------
David Cameron will be giving a speech on reforming government today
[Tuesday] at the Open University in Milton Keynes
This is the third part of an article the Conservative leader has
written to accompany that speech. The article has been divided into
four simultaneously published parts
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