Exclusive
Nick Clegg: Cancel the Queen's Speech – and save democracy
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
enlarge
Nick Clegg today issues a call for this week's Queen's Speech to be scrapped and replaced by an emergency programme of reform designed to "clean up politics once and for all".
Writing in The Independent, the Liberal Democrat leader dismisses the pageant as a "waste of everyone's time" as Parliament will only sit for another 70 days before it is dissolved for the general election expected in the spring.
The Queen's Speech this year will set out plans to boost parents' and patients' rights, tackle knife crime, improve social care for the elderly and trim bankers' bonuses.
Wednesday's event, which traces its roots back more than 500 years, will be the 55th occasion that the Queen has presided over the state opening of Parliament. A major security operation has already been mounted in preparation for the monarch making the short journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster to read out a list of the Government's planned Bills. The Queen's Speech is an important event in the political calendar because it gives the government of the day the chance to spell out its legislative programme.
But Mr Clegg denounces this year's ceremony as "based on a complete fiction" because Gordon Brown is running out of time to enact his proposed legislation. He says: "The Queen's Speech will be dressed up as the way to 'build Britain's future' when it will be little more than a rehearsal of the next Labour Party manifesto, an attempt to road-test policy gimmicks to see whether they might save this Government's skin.
"It is a waste of everyone's time, and should be cancelled in favour of an emergency programme of political reform. That is the only job this rump of a Parliament is fit for."
The Liberal Democrat leader calls for the Commons to agree an action plan to reform Parliament in the few months until MPs leave for the election battle. The first step would be to approve proposals to be set out by the Public Administration Committee to curb the power of the Commons whips and give more influence to backbench MPs. That should be followed, Mr Clegg says, by moves to introduce fixed-term parliaments, agree a code of conduct for election candidates, sack corrupt MPs, make the House of Lords fully-elected and reform the Commons voting system.
"These changes would be a tall order, but with political will they could finally transform our threadbare democratic institutions," writes Mr Clegg.
"Instead of being just a sorry footnote to a shameful year at Westminster, these months would become a moment of great change in British political history."
Mr Clegg's suggestion was greeted with scorn last night by Downing Street sources. They said: "The Queen's Speech this week will set out the Government's priorities for the remainder of the parliamentary session. But we are very clear these priorities are also the people's priorities and the Liberal Democrats and other parties will support them, there will be absolutely no problems getting them through.
"Either way the Government is determined to deliver on these Bills as we know we can never rest from building a better future for Britain."
Prof Phil Cowley, of the School of Politics at Nottingham University, said there was usually a sense of events petering out in pre-election Queen's Speeches. The famous Tory diarist, Sir Henry "Chips" Channon, who died half a century ago, lamented the "odour of dissolution" hanging over the end of a parliament.
Prof Cowley said: "The final session of a parliament before an election tends to be very artificial – everyone knows the end is coming. The Queen's Speech will be partly about the manifesto and partly about trying to establish the battle-lines with the opposition.
"I would abolish the Queen's Speech altogether. It performs one useful function in that it forces parties to think about what they want to introduce. But amid all the pomp of the occasion they tend to go for headline-grabbing measures." John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, will break with tradition at his first Queen's Speech by wearing tails, rather than court dress. He was the first Speaker to ditch the old-fashioned costume of ruffled shirts and tights to chair the House of Commons, instead wearing a suit and tie.
He revealed yesterday that he will wear the Speaker's ornate black and gold state robe at Wednesday's ceremony to mark the beginning of the parliamentary year. But underneath he will wear a more modern black morning coat and a House of Commons tie.
Re-opening the House: Political pageantry
*The Queen's speech is an annual tradition which takes place at the opening of Parliament, following a recess or a General Election. It begins with a search for any hidden explosives in Parliament's cellars, in a nod to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.
It is given in the presence of Members of both the Commons and the Lords. The Commons is summoned to hear the speech by Black Rod. In a symbol of its independence, the door to the Chamber is slammed in Black Rod's face when he calls them and is not opened until he has knocked on the door with his staff three times.
The speech is written by the Cabinet and it sets out the policies the Government wishes to pursue in the coming year. The Queen reads the whole speech in the same tone of voice so as not to hint at any favour for or displeasure at what she is announcing. Members of all parties are expected to listen in silence, rather than cheer or heckle.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
"We have decided to dissolve this parliament since it has lost the confidence of the electorate."
i absolutely love the idea of a lib dem pm. i love the idea of an atheist pm. but nick clegg just feels like a grumpy teenager that everyone ignores. or may be he's like don quixote tilting at windmills - fantasizing that what he says actually has some prospect of being effected.
or maybe he's a bit like smug naive tory boy or a comfortable businessman who has chosen politics as some glamorous trophy rather than out of an inner passion or a special belief about how society should be.
Don't you realise that there is a constant campaign in the media to make fun of the liberal democrats, so that the public will never see them as a credible option.
All we hear is people grumbling about the many problems in this country, yet no one has the balls to vote for real change. People keep swinging between the Tories and Labour, both of which are completely infiltrated by big business.
Stop jumping on the mock the lib dems bandwagon and think for yourself. If you want them in then have the courage to stand by your convictions and support them, first and foremost with your vote.
The Lib Dems are marginalised by the far-right media, and even the BBC which is supposedly leftist. The far-right coalition of NuLabor and the Tories are actually frightened by the Lib Dems because they know that it's only a corrupt voting system that has kept them sidelined for so long. I pray for a hung parliament followed by a change in the voting system. In 1983, the Liberal/SDP alliance secured 25% of the national vote and were left with 20 MPs out of 650! Democracy? In 1997/2001 Tony 'Doing the Right Thing' Blair managed just 42% of the vote, and yet enjoyed a huge Parliamentary majority that allowed him to sell our country to the Americans. Democracy?
do you really want ther status quo to continue throughout the recession and the sleaze and the expenses, with some culprits being booted up into the also sleazy Lords?
Keep up the good work for whoever you are beholden to.
lib dems have all the nice policies but are just totally rubbish at finding the right man for the top job. in my view, all the past lib dem leaders of my conscious-adult memory - steele, ashdown, kennedy and now clegg - have been flawed. the only person that came close to have the respect of the general public was menzies campbell and he was principally brought down by lib-dems themselves.
you can't just vote for policies you have to have some belief in the leader's ability as well. both brown and cameron have at least a bit of gravity, clegg doesn't... yet.
NO you vote for what you believe in.
One thing I like about Nick is that he can speak with passion, and compassion. Check out the Lib Dem videos on YouTube, particularly his conference speeches. See how he led the charge for fair treatment for the Ghurkas, or his comments on homophobic bullying.
Admittedly, I'd take the Lib Dems over the others even if Nick were useless, because their policies are mostly based in a liberal philosophy I agree with. But as somebody who didn't support him for party leader, I've been pleasantly surprised by his performance.
and sweep out the dirty slimy politicians once and for all.
A system of democracy that has served us well for hundreds of years should not be abolished just because a bunch of scumbags have seized power
The problem is with those of us who trusted them and thought our system was resilient enough to contain them. It would be if the electorate was awake.
This is a dangerous call and exposes Nick Clegg as someone who wants to hasten change from a democracy to a totalitarian state.
I could go on.
Abolishing the Queen's Speech abolishes our democracy - A dangerous call indeed.
Democracy is game played every few years to keep the mug-voter thinking he has "democracy" and a say in what happens to his hard-earned taxes. Politicians are mere puppets who dance in front of the people to keep them amused while the real power is controlled by the secret World bankers. The mug-voter should wake-up and realise there is no need for the system that enforces petty rules and restricts the freedoms of people whilst at the same time taking ever more resources to pay for the un-productive bureaucracy that Parliament and the European Parliament have become. The biggest growth industry in the World is useless politicians.
The battle for democracy is not one that has been won by a long shot. On balance we are in a better place than a hundred years however by sweeping away the progress we have made, we put ourselves back in the Middle Ages, Which will be very much in the interests of the Bankers
We have to protect the liberties we still have.
We cannot throw them away because they have been openly abused by politicians, business men and women, secretly abused by organisations such as Common Purpose, Freemasonry and Scientology
Progress maybe slow but we cannot be thrown off course by the present storm
The Queen's speech is only another bit of pomp and ceremony, a waste of time and money. At least Clegg has the bottle to publicly question the parts of our constitution that make little sense right now in 2009.
The correct course would be to then hold a General Election rather than a referendum on the Treaty, I believe.
If Her Majesty merely opens a new session of Parliament with a programme as trailered in the press, then she will be clearly in danger of breaking her Coronation Oath to the English people in my opinion.
And yes, lets question what we need to do improve it. But if we sweep away what we have, we risk putting back history, back even to the time of Oliver Cromwell, when you and I would not have had a vote, either under Charles or Cromwell
Improve and Reform is, I believe, a more constructive and better way forward than the system of Command and Control which has developed in the last ten years under New labour.
Cleaning the corruption out of the filthy Aegean stables of New Labour's Parliament should not involve pulling down those stables.
Yes, the system does need to move forward and improve. But there are many people all to willing to help with the destruction in order remove what basic liberties we have.
The Queen's speech sets out the government's intention for the next Parliament. However ridiculous and authoritarian it turns out to be, lets at least see how their nasty perverse minds work.
There are far greater crimes being committed against this country than those of an outdated elderly lady, who spends most of her life on public view. If you are unfamiliar with the dangers of Republicanism, you need look no further than Napoleon and the French Revolutions.
Democracy is more than voting for someone to represent you. It includes an independent judiciary, and independent legislature and it includes openness and education.
This country is governed by Quangos. Quangos are not democratic. They are appointed by those in government to give people they like jobs for life. Will Hutton has gone from being a critical and intelligent voice to a Labour Apologist with a £100K job in the Work Foundation.
I can at least see the Queen and I know what she does and what she costs the country. Do you know how much the Quangos that run this country cost, or even who they are?
There are 144 quangos concerned with Health Care Regulation in this country - I kid you not. These are the "Modern Royals" untouchable, unimpeachable, rich, secure and completely unaccountable. I for one, cannot name more than six or seven Quangos. I don't why they won't appoint me onto the ones I have applied to serve on. I don't know where their funding comes from or who they are accountable to.
At least with traditional structures, you can see the routes of power, accountability and how the money comes and goes
The first thing that will start to head us in the vague direction of some sort of democracy is to get rid of the queen!
Only then ought we to start thinking about changes of ceremonial.
Nick Clegg probably means that the Queens Speech as drafted should be abandoned and his suggested measures included instead.
I hope so, for I fear otherwise good intentions will be drowned out.
If, as received, White Rod is not present with Black Rod (as it happens since the 1850s), then the entire process is not lawful and is, apparently, how Bliar managed to commit Britain to un-declared, not-really and arguably never-ending, so-called 'war'.
It would be an excellent idea for every elected politician and appointed lord be forced to study the constitution until they understand what it means and their duty to uphold it ... as they all must swear to do to hold office.
2. How long before MOD is subsumed within an EU MOD? Italy is now calling for a European army.
3. Ditto every other Whitehall department?
4. Should the next Parliament be the last one in its current format?
5. How many MPs will be needed to rubber stamp EU laws?
6. How many civil servants will be needed to administer them?
7. Will two chambers of Parliament be needed?
8. How much longer will the UK be a relevant structure?
9. What price the monarchy?
Those are the questions for this session of Parliament.
And if Mr Brown can't see that, then the sooner he's sent packing back to Dunfermline, the better.
Post lisbon the UK will keep all of its major policy areas. The only powers the EU gets is the rules for governing the internal market, (any other areas are shared or completely given to member parliments) or is that too much to ask that a shared market gets a shared governance?
There is no plan to make an army, and if that was the case the UK still has its foreign policy veto.
please stop this paranoid "They are taking over" crap, the EU has allowed the UK to opt out of everything its ever asked to be allowed out of.
or has the right wing media got you shaking in your boots?
Still, please, please bring it on. This discredited unrepresentative system cannot continue much longer without a total collapse of the political process.
Step one: a constitutional convention & abolition of the dreadful anachronism that is the House of Lords.
All other government business that is not urgent has to be put on the back burner until there is a parliamentary & political system that enjoys the confidence of a majority of the public.
How can we know what we want if we do not understand what we have?
The danger is that in periods of change, extreme interests step in and hijack the process
There is no reason for change until we have cleaned up what there is, then we can see clearly what we need. It is essential that we are awake and alert to the tricks these creatures from the swamps are up to. Change for Change sake will allow them to slip back into the murky waters from which they came
properly speaking the Queen should say, " look , let's be real folks, you already know what I'm going to read out, so why don't e just skip the boring bit and cut to the chase and have a drink now?; thank God I won't have to meet that ghastly oik Brown ever again; it's time we had a gentleman as PM"
Next thing, you'll be asking MPs to represent their constituents, rather than their party - or for the party to care about anything other than winning elections.
Why discard long-established customs and rituals as if they were just inconveniences, empty of any
spiritual, legal and social value?
Politicians are not elected to operate changes above their remit, thus invoking certainties which, in
fact, do not exist, or, if they did, they would be inferior to the people's long-term convictions and
certainties.
These anomalies have been caused by our contemporary politicians and by the changes to the established order which they have brought about without consulting the electorate.
"drlizmiller" is, therefore, right to urge caution and the cleaning of the structures before we consider changing them. The current layer of dust may obscure important features and details that we may need preserved.
Can Neil639 explain what is democratic about the 1,000s of quangos that rule this country? and cost far more than Queenie
Would you rather be governed by a structure you can see and hold to account or a series of secret committees about which you know nothing and cannot hold to account?
I am no lover of Royalty and I never expected to say that the alternative is worse. We are a long way from a perfect democracy but at the moment thanks to the attentions of the European Community, and secret organisations such as Freemasonry, Scientology and Common Purpose we are moving further from democracy not closer to it.
Royalty is an easy target, Try finding out what your council spent its money or where various charities get their funding, or why some charities get funded and others don't and you will begin to experience the sinister depth of our present bureaucracy
If you are interested in finding out more, there is plenty on this thread to get you started. Otherwise, I would rather the devil I know than the ones I don't, but that's a personal preference
I'd like to hear what the Queen really thinks of what she's reading.
You lot have all forgotten how angry you all were at the expenses scandal; the abuses of position, the theft of public monies and the raw micky-taking by our politicians.
You've all forgotten the illegal wars we've been marched into, you've forgotten the promised referendums, you've forgotten the deprecation of our civil liberties, the lies you've been told that you knew were bare-faced lies, you've forgotten all the very GOOD reasons why you once believed, just weeks and months ago, that THIS system of government, with its many systematic perversions and abominations, MUST END.
We had the rage, the impetus, to demand and see through the changes that we demanded and we have let it subside. We have, again, let the plague of apathy pervade our political consciences. We've done exactly what the politicians knew we would do; let our shoulders sag and our anger subside, knowing things are so very wrong but allowing that sense of powerlessness to return. Nick Clegg is calling us to recall our fury, to remember why we WERE so angry and that we were RIGHT to be angry, and once and for all, to make the demands of our politicians that need to be made, to dig out the cancer in our corrupt socio-political engine.
We really must be idiots not to rally behind Nick Clegg, regardless of our individual political persuasions, because THIS is the opportunity we wanted in the summer months and we are going, collectively, to let it pass us by. This is not a partisan call from Nick Clegg, it is a call to ALL the people of this nation, to seize this one opportunity to clean a desperately filthy house.