The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #99710   Message #1990746
Posted By: DMcG
08-Mar-07 - 03:13 PM
Thread Name: BS: Elected UK House of Lords - good or bad?
Subject: RE: BS: Elected UK House of Lords - good or bad?
All votes in parliament are secret ...
<>Scrump, yes I'd like to get rid of political parties but I think this is impossible unless you have a one-party state hence the idea of getting rid of the whips and secret voting.

I'm in favour of making all MPs stand as independents. They can be inclined towards a party if they like, but only in the same sense that they might be broadly in favour of a particular stance on green issues, or local income tax, or the Olympics or any other issue. Most particularly, the party should have NO authority in the HOC, such as whips, and no role in deciding who stands for election.

As for secret votes - quite the opposite. I'd like to see it made law that when a candidate who has previously been elected stands again, their complete voting record, including missed votes, should by law by printed on every piece of their campaign literature (with a minimum size of font defined!).