:: Kishwar Desai

Phantom claims haunt, destroy dodgy Brit MPs

Kishwar Desai

May.23 : This has been a historic week for British democracy, and "the mother of all Parliaments", as it struggled with growing public clamour for elected members of Parliament to apologise, stand down or, worse, face a general election. It was also a week when the Speaker of the Commons was forced to resign over the continuing controversy over members of Parliament’s expenses. If there was anger on the streets, inside Parliament it was no better as the MPs turned on one of their own. As one watched British Speaker Michael Martin being asked to quit, it brought back memories of India’s beleaguered former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who also suffered humiliation at the hands of Lok Sabha members in the Indian Parliament .

What was very different between the two Parliaments, however, was the dignified way in which the entire proceedings were conducted in the UK. Though the words may have been harsh and the atmosphere vicious, the actual lynching was fairly polite. There was no raucous screaming and running into the well of the House; instead, Mr Martin was addressed as "sir" and was asked by "honourable members" to step down because, after all, it has been on his watch that the MPs’ expenses scandal has been running on and on without any attempt on his part to rectify anyone’s behaviour or, indeed, apologise for lapses.

The final straw was when he began berating backbench MPs for siding with the press instead of parliamentarians. Mr Martin was judged to have been unfair because, as everyone now knows, it was only a matter of time before the tawdry truth about MPs’ expenses were revealed.

Ultimately, it turned the tide against Speaker Martin who also showed an appalling lack of preparedness for the moment when he was asked to step down. This in itself was astounding because the media had been speculating about it for days.

So when he ultimately, and quite grumpily, said he would quit, people made a reasoned judgment that he must have been asked to move on by the Prime Minister — or at least nudged in that direction.

Many would say that the Speaker was lucky because a few hundred years ago it was a life-threatening job. In the hoary past, at least eight Speakers have been killed or beheaded. Henry VIII beheaded three of them — Sir Thomas More, Sir Richard Empson and Edmond Dudley. Of course, things are slightly easier now when Speakers can merely be dismissed and still look forward to a fat pension of £70,000, and even an occasional peerage. However, the memory of the Speaker’s job being a difficult one still persists. And whenever a Speaker is elected by tradition he is dragged, reluctantly, to his chair. And yet, as the media reminded us over and over again, it was not a physically large and aggressive Speaker (as Mr Martin) but a rather meek and timid Speaker, William Lenthall in 1642, who faced up to Charles I, when he stormed into Parliament to arrest five members. This was the glorious moment when the Speaker defied the king. He spurned the king’s demands, who was actually forced to leave, by saying: "May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here".

It was this acme of defiance and independence that was expected from Mr Martin, but he misread the message — as indeed did the government. It seems few were really unhappy at his departure, while many made the right noises. Though the Speaker is meant to be non-partisan, Mr Martin was a Labour MP and there were complaints that he had, on a few occasions, not been entirely fair to the other parties.

So, has his stepping down been good for democracy? The larger conclusion is that though it may have been a symbolic gesture, it has been a step in the right direction. To begin with, it has taken away the aura of invincibility that surrounds members of Parliament once they have been elected.

In the UK, as all over the world, once they have been elected, the so-called "servants" often turn into bullying "masters". There is little humility and enormous hubris. In a world where recession has made it a level playing field — and bosses and junior employees both can get the sack — it has been a shocking experience to discover that supremely over-confident MPs have been "misclaiming" for phantom mortgages, chandeliers, loo seats, and even, "duck islands".

As each fresh revelation drains the confidence away from standing MPs who have "misclaimed", there are lessons for all democratic institutions all over the world.

Especially in emerging economies like India, it brings home the lesson that it is better to usher in transparency at the earliest, rather than wait for endemic corruption. As we have now learnt, there are yet again some criminals and corrupt individuals, unfortunately, who have been elected back into the Indian Parliament. It would be an apt time to learn from the present travails of the British Parliament. Unless democratic countries make the people they elect accountable in every way, depressing scandals like the one that has engulfed Britain and paralysed the government, are bound to occur.

Yet, the only silver lining is that at least now each MP feels vulnerable and exposed and there are soon going to be new rules to make it even more difficult for anyone to fudge the system. We can only hope that the "gentleman’s club", as described by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has been finally dismantled. There was for decades a cosy nexus between the parliamentary fees office and the MPs — and everyone learnt over the years to turn a blind eye to transgressions.

So the valuable point is that if the "Westminster model of democracy" is being followed in other countries, can we actually assume that the lax system of allowances and payments is also not being replicated?

The poor taxpayer, who is already supporting the lifestyle of MPs in India, should demand that their actual cost and expenses be listed on the Internet, along with the real value of their homes, cars, other perks, gifts etc which they have received.

The lesson for British parliamentarians has been brutal and many are now in danger of being forever barred from this profession — other Parliaments should take heed and clean up their act so that their representatives can be saved the ignominy of a very public purge.

The writer can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com