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Cameron pledges shake-up of power Cameron pledges shake-up of power
(about 3 hours later)
Tory leader David Cameron has promised his party would address voter disgust over MPs' expenses with a dramatic redistribution of power if elected. David Cameron has said a Conservative government would address voters' anger about MPs' expenses with a dramatic redistribution of power.
Writing in the Guardian, he says he would reduce prime ministerial power and boost the role of Parliament.Writing in the Guardian, he says he would reduce prime ministerial power and boost the role of Parliament.
His proposals include fixed-term Parliaments and free votes for MPs. He would look at introducing fixed-term parliaments and more free votes for MPs but would not end first-past-the-post.
Latest claims over expenses suggest at least four ministers have paid the husband of a Labour MP a total of more than £5,000 for personal tax advice. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said it did not go far enough and did not address the unelected House of Lords.
Dennis Bates, who is married to former Foreign Office minister Meg Munn, was paid by MPs including Foreign Secretary David Miliband, according to leaked documents seen by the Daily Telegraph. As the main parties try to shift focus away from the expenses revelations, Mr Cameron set out his plan to shake up Parliament.
Foreign Office Minister Gillian Merron, local government minister John Healey, schools minister Jim Knight (Dorset South), and Sheffield Hillsborough MP Angela Smith also used Mr Bates's services. "I believe the central objective of the new politics we need should be a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power," he wrote.
In a statement insisting they had not broken any rules, the four said: "Dennis Bates worked for 12 years for the Inland Revenue, specialising in the tax affairs of small businesses and is eminently qualified to provide advice."
If we want Parliament to be a real engine of accountability, we need to show it's not just the creature of the executive David CameronConservative leader
Neither Miss Munn nor Mr Bates have been available for comment.
As the main parties try to shift focus away from the expenses furore, Mr Cameron set out his plan to shake up Parliament by writing: "I believe the central objective of the new politics we need should be a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power.
"From the state to citizens; from the government to Parliament; from Whitehall to communities. From the EU to Britain; from judges to the people; from bureaucracy to democracy.
"Through decentralisation, transparency and accountability we must take power away from the political elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street.""Through decentralisation, transparency and accountability we must take power away from the political elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street."
The Conservative leader, who is due to speak further about political reform in Milton Keynes on Tuesday, says his party will "look seriously" at the idea of fixed-term Parliaments and at the "immense power" prime ministers wield through the ability to decide when to call an election. Point scoring
The Tory leader, who is due to speak about political reform on Tuesday, says his party will "look seriously" at the idea of fixed-term Parliaments and at the "immense power" prime ministers wield through the ability to decide when to call an election.
"If we want Parliament to be a real engine of accountability, we need to show it's not just the creature of the executive," he argues."If we want Parliament to be a real engine of accountability, we need to show it's not just the creature of the executive," he argues.
'Less whipping'
It will also investigate possible curbs on the whipping of votes - when MPs come under pressure to toe the party line - in considering bills line-by-line at the committee stage.It will also investigate possible curbs on the whipping of votes - when MPs come under pressure to toe the party line - in considering bills line-by-line at the committee stage.
"There should be much less whipping during the committee stages of a bill," he writes. "That's when you really need proper, impartial, effective scrutiny - not partisan point-scoring and posturing." "That's when you really need proper, impartial, effective scrutiny - not partisan point-scoring and posturing," he writes.
Among his proposals are: Asked why the party was not making a firm commitment to bring in fixed-term Parliaments, Shadow foreign secretary William Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's the first time we have ever raised that proposal as a party of course we want to set the debate going about that.
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  • Limiting the power of the prime minister by considering fixed-term Parliaments, ending the right of Downing Street to control the timing of general elections
  • Boosting the role of Parliament by giving MPs free votes during the consideration of bills at committee stage. MPs would also be handed the power of deciding the timetabling of bills
  • Increasing the power of backbench MPs by allowing them to choose the chairmen and members of Commons select committees
  • Curbing the power of the executive by limiting the use of the royal prerogative which allows the prime minister, in the name of the monarch, to make major decisions
  • Strengthening local government by allowing councils to reverse Whitehall decisions to close popular services, such as a local post office. They would be given the power to raise money to keep them open.
  • Publishing the expenses claims of all public servants earning more than £150,000.
"But on most of the rest of what is in his speech, the commitment to reduce the size of Parliament, to bring more of the use of the government's use of the royal prerogative under democratic control - to have more primaries so that people can choose not only their MP at a general election but have a much bigger say who the candidates are - these are things the Conservative Party is either fully committed to or has already set about implementing."
On Monday, Alan Johnson urged Gordon Brown to hold a national referendum on electoral reform and offer the public a "genuinely radical alternative" to the present system. Among Mr Cameron's proposals are:
class="lp" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/default.stm">HAVE YOUR SAY I am all for electoral reform and applaud Cameron and Johnson. But why didn't they come up with this before the expenses scandal? JB, Leamington Spa class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=6494&edition=1&ttl=20090525225453">Send us your comments
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  • Considering fixed-term Parliaments - ending the right of Downing Street to control the timing of general elections
  • Boosting the role of Parliament by giving MPs free votes when bills are considered at committee stage. MPs would also be handed the power of deciding the timetabling of bills
  • Increasing the power of backbenchers by allowing them to choose the chairmen and members of select committees
  • Limiting the use of the royal prerogative which allows the prime minister, in the name of the monarch, to make major decisions without the backing of Parliament
  • Strengthening local government by allowing councils to reverse Whitehall decisions to close popular services, such as a local post office. They would be given the power to raise money to keep them open.
  • Publishing the expenses claims of all public servants earning more than £150,000.
In an article for the Times, he urged the prime minister to involve the public in "a root and branch examination" of the political system in order to regain trust following the expenses scandal. On Monday, Alan Johnson urged Gordon Brown to hold a national referendum on a "radical alternative" to the current first-past-the-post electoral system.
"We need to overhaul the engine, not just clean the upholstery," he wrote.
But Mr Cameron rejects any change from the current first-past-the-post system.But Mr Cameron rejects any change from the current first-past-the-post system.
"Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites," he says."Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites," he says.
HAVE YOUR SAY I am all for electoral reform and applaud Cameron and Johnson. But why didn't they come up with this before the expenses scandal? JB, Leamington Spa Send us your comments
"Instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals. How is that going to deliver the transparency and trust we need?""Instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals. How is that going to deliver the transparency and trust we need?"
The Liberal Democrats, who favour proportional representation, said Mr Cameron's plans did not go far enough.
Party leader Nick Clegg said they were a "nip and tuck" solution which fell short of his own proposal to sack MPs if they are proved to have done something wrong.
"I think David Cameron's ideas are fine as far as they go but they don't go far enough," he told GMTV.
"They are saying nothing about sacking individual MPs. They are saying nothing about the scandal of having an unelected House of Lords who can make the laws of the land for us and they are not accountable to us.
"It says nothing about the fact that under our electoral system we give huge amounts of power, huge amounts of money, to the government of the day even though they only get a tiny minority of the eligible votes."
On its 19th day of revelations about expenses claims by MPs, the Daily Telegraph reports that some ministers used allowances meant for the running of their offices to claim for personal tax advice, from the husband of a Labour MP.