Cash '22

Bill Cash is a force of Parliamentary nature. I’m not surprised that there is a rumour circulating (as reported on yesterday’s ConHome) that there may be new moves to nobble the 1922 Committee, because some people wouldn’t like to see him chair Parliament’s EU scrutiny committee.  He’d be good at it.

Let me immediately declare an interest. I’ve known Bill for a decade. Indeed, I first cut my political teeth working at the European Foundation, an organisation that was at the forefront of campaigns to educate parliamentarians and the public on developments in Brussels. But it’s precisely that understanding that leads me to the conclusion that he would make a fantastic chairman.

He is after all supremely well qualified. A constitutional lawyer, he is a past Shadow Attorney General and has previously been a legal adviser to London’s Quebec legation – an office that knows a thing or two about federalism in practice. Importantly, for a committee that ranges so widely in its subject matter, he has expertise in a wide range of subjects.  He has - incredibly - been a member of the committee since 1985, that is to say even before the Single European Act. In short, he knows his stuff.

Choosing the right chairman for the EU scrutiny committee will be important. It is one of the most critical committees, so much so that under Labour the public were banned from watching. The sheer volume of laws going through it is massive. One past member recollects that in the time it took for him to turn to a colleague to ask a question, several items had been passed through on the nod by the committee including one he intended to challenge. A good chairman would be able to help sift the nuggets from the mass of grit.

Parliament has been promised an opportunity for more transparency and accountability – and by no less a person than the Prime Minister himself. In a keynote speech as recently as February, David Cameron addressed the democratic deficit in the way EU legislation was passed:

And one of the biggest constitutional changes in our history - our membership of the European Union - has practically passed Parliament by. We are hopeless, totally hopeless, at scrutinising the European legislation, regulation and spending that affects our country. No wonder people think Parliament has become a waste of space. Much of the time - and thanks in large part to the things this Labour government has done to undermine Parliament - it really is a waste of space.

If you want an idea of how bad things have got, just think about the path a piece of legislation takes before it becomes law. Number 10 dreams up a new law to get Gordon Brown a cheap headline in the media or a quick clap-line in his party conference speech.

The Bill gets sent to the House of Commons where it’s debated without diligence – because automatic guillotines cut time short. It’s passed without proper scrutiny – because standing committees for Public Bills are stuffed with puppets of the Government. And it’s voted through without much of a whisper – because MPs have been whipped to follow the party line.

We’ve got to give Parliament its teeth back so that people can have pride in it again – so they can look at it and say ‘yes: those MPs we elect – they’re holding the government to account on my behalf.’

So I hope the report’s not true, and that MPs will be given the freedom to choose who they want to chair the committee. European scrutiny needs an independent voice, and an expert. David Cameron says he wants someone who is not “a puppet”. Bill Cash is the man for the job.