An MP's Homework
HOMEWORK, Charles Fletcher-Cooke insists in his article this week, is a morass of detail; but it is only by engulfing himself in it that an MP can serve his constituents and his country. That is true; and we were not intending to argue, when we referred to the unnecessary amount of time and trouble which MPs go to on trivial issues, that they should leave homework to their sons and daughters. We were simply urging that they should devote their energies to issues which 'And remembr r your job is not to side with the Flemings or the Walloons but si nply to keep the peace.' are important, and not allow themselves to be bogged down in routine.
Admittedly, it is hard to allot priorities. The Caravan Sites Control and Development Bill, which we cited as an example of the kind of legislation to which MPs have to apply them- selves, might conceivably have contained some dire threat to the liberty of the individual, or contravened some essential principle. But when the public sees its elected representatives toiling over trivia—or, rather, does not see them, be- cause their parliamentary activities are so seldom in the news—it is apt to regard Parliament with growing scepticism; particularly as independence of mind is now frowned upon by the whips, so that Conservative MPs who might be doing really useful homework may think twice before risking their political futures by probing too far.
And certainly, in our reference to the morass of detail, we were not referring to that part of an MP's labours which is devoted to questioning and criticising expenditure; and, more specifi- cally, to exposing those instances where the expenditure has been unnecessarily heavy, or misguided for other reasons. The trouble here arises less because MPs are failing to do their job as watchdogs, than because it is not enough to expose abuses if the Government pays no attention. Mr. Fletcher-Cooke believes it is no longer true that Parliament is indifferent to the reports of the Public Accounts Committee. Parliament may not be indifferent, but we wish we could be confident that the Government really cares. Its promises to be good next time are look- ing a little shabby.
Previous page
