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Bill of rights 'making progress' Straw in 'clear breach' of rules
(2 days later)
Ministers will outline their thinking on a proposed bill of rights within months, Jack Straw has said. Jack Straw was guilty of a "clear, albeit inadvertent, breach" of the rules in not registering a donation for a dinner to mark 25 years as an MP.
The government has been accused of dragging its feet over ideas first mooted in 2007, leading to calls from MPs and campaigners for more clarity. But the Committee on Standards and Privileges said that because Mr Straw had apologised and registered the money no further action was recommended.
The justice secretary said a proposed bill would be new and complex but a green paper, outlining policy options, would be published before Easter. They decided on a public rebuke because Mr Straw did not register the donation until 2008 despite reminders.
Critics say it would do little to stop the erosion of fundamental rights. The justice secretary blamed the oversight on a "chapter of accidents".
Complex arguments The complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was made by nearby MP Ben Wallace about the failure to register the donation of £3,000 from Canatxx to sponsor the dinner in Mr Straw's Blackburn constituency.
Supporters of constitutional reform believe a bill of rights must be shaped by the public, not government, otherwise the process will be "discredited". Mr Wallace made the official complaint two years after he had correspondence with Mr Straw which led the then Leader of the Commons to conclude "in October 2006 that he should register the donation".
A joint parliamentary committee on human rights has argued that an independent group must be set up to consult the public on what should be in a bill of rights and what should not. "Unfortunately Mr Straw's intention to register the donation in 2006 was not acted upon, and when Mr Straw was sent a copy of his Register entry early in 2007, he failed to notice that the donation had still not been registered," the committee's report says.
It has said further delays to the green paper would "severely undermine" confidence in the government's commitment to a written bill of rights. "Mr Straw eventually registered the donation in December 2008 following the formal complaint made to the Commissioner by Mr Wallace," the report says.
Appearing before the committee, Mr Straw said the reason the green paper had taken so long to prepare was that it represented new constitutional territory. Parliamentary answer
In particular, ministers were concerned about the extent to which existing rights to health and education should be included in a single document of rights, how people's responsibilities should be articulated and the balance between broad statements of intent and what should be legally enforceable. The committee say they were "surprised and disappointed that, of all Members, Mr Straw should have broken the rules" as he had taken legislation through the Commons which had as a theme the "need for transparency in political donations".
"These are really complicated areas and are really important," Mr Straw said. Standards Commissioner John Lyon told the committee that normally he would not submit a memorandum to the committee if an MP corrected the register after unintentionally failing to register a donation.
On the controversial issue of enshrining social and economic rights into law, Mr Straw said MPs must be "extremely careful" about handing over duties which voters expected their elected representatives to perform to the courts. But "in this case Mr Straw's omission in 2006 to rectify his earlier failure to register the donation he received in 2004 was a matter that the commissioner felt should be reported to the committee".
The idea of a bill of rights is at the heart of Gordon Brown's plans to reform Britain's constitution, with Labour believing it will give people a "stronger sense of citizenship". The committee says: "Pressure of work may explain why Mr Straw overlooked his responsibilities, but the nature of his job should also have been a constant reminder to him of the need to observe the code".
Mr Straw also defended the existing Human Rights Act from claims that it has become a "villains' charter" for terrorists and asylum seekers to escape sanctions such as deportation. "This case should... serve as a reminder to all members - and particularly to ministers and to front benchers - of the need to ensure that their register entries are kept up-to-date at all times."
He said it was one of the most "abiding" pieces of legislation introduced by Labour since 1997. Responding to the report, Mr Straw pointed out that he had put the donation onto the Parliamentary record - if not the register of interests - when answering a question from Mr Wallace in 2006.
But he added that MPs must recognise public concerns about the workings of the act and be prepared to address them. He said: "I have apologised unreservedly for what the committee notes was an inadvertent oversight on my part: in the words of the Parliamentary Commissioner it was 'neither intended nor… made in bad faith'.
The Conservatives have called for the act to be replaced with a British bill of rights which protects civil liberties and provides new standards for the courts. "I accept the conclusions of the committee that the donation should have been registered on receipt, and this error has since been rectified, but also draw attention to the Commissioner's reference to my having volunteered information about the donation in a Parliamentary answer in 2006. This declaration underlines my approach to these matters."