Parliament: Electoral reform - MPs hit at `flawed' closed-lists system

A LABOUR-DOMINATED committee of MPs has attacked the controversial voting system favoured by Tony Blair which would allow people only to support political parties, rather than individual candidates.

Ministers were yesterday embarrassed by the criticism of the all-party Scottish Affairs Select Committee, which also expressed fears about the "potential flaws" in the Government's blueprint for the Scottish Parliament, which opens next year. Seventy-three assembly members will be elected by the first-past-the-post system, topped up with 56 elected by proportional representation from party lists.

The Government has opted for a "closed list" system under which voters can only support a party. It has also chosen this method for next June's elections to the European Parliament, but the Bill proposing that has been rejected five times by the House of Lords, which wants "open lists" so that people can vote for candidates.

Last night the Government rushed the European elections Bill through the Commons in the hope that it can be pushed through the Lords by January.The move provoked fresh criticism by the Tories of "control freakery" by Labour, because the "closed list" system allows parties to decide which candidates have the best chance of winning, as they fix the pecking order on their own lists.

The Scottish MPs' committee declared yesterday: "We feel an open list would be more in keeping with the principle of trusting the people and giving them the maximum choice."

The committee welcomed the creation of the new Scottish assembly, but criticised the Government's approach to constitutional reform.

Its report raised fears over the potential for conflict between Westminster and Edinburgh and how the disputes could push Scotland towards independence. The report added: "If the Scottish people express a desire for independence, the stage would be set for a direct clash between what is the English doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament and the Scottish doctrine of the sovereignty of the people."

Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, said the Government had run into trouble by being "too grudging" by not devolving enough powers to Scotland. "The Scottish Parliament can not remain a static body," he said. "Its powers will grow and develop, at a pace dictated by the people of Scotland, not by Westminster."