Forcing Resignation of MPs. Part Two

In part one I advocated the passing of legislation that would " enable voters to force the immediate resignation of their MP".
The second suggestion I had is that legislation should be formulated that would "enable MPs to force the immediate resignation of any MP". There may be a method already available for MPs to do this, if there is I feel that it should have been used in at least one instance, about a year ago, that being in respect of an MP from whom the Conservatives had withdrawn their whip. This power must not be invoked lightly but, conversely, in order to propose a vote of no confidence in a fellow MP the MPs proposing it need only advance the general complaint that they are not satisfied with the particular MPs performance in Parliament. Penalties can be devised against the proposers if the vote of no confidence is not carried. In my book and in my first blog on politics I have suggested, for example, that the MPs who proposed a vote of no confidence that failed should be forced to resign their seats or, alternatively, they could be fined, say, 3 months salary.

My third suggestion is that MPs need to be able to force any Minister or Deputy Minister to relinquish their office by proposing a vote of no confidence. Here again a penalty should be imposed if the vote is not carried, in this context it should be a fine of so many months salary. If such a vote is proposed the Minister or Deputy Minister may relinquish their office before the vote is taken. Further ideas that have a bearing on the above will be raised in my next blog.

In closing this blog I will quote a few words from my first blog, these are; "There is, I am sure, a prime need to give every responsible person in the country a justified feeling that they, the people, are fairly in control of events, other than natural disasters, and that their efforts and opinions, on a grand scale, do matter and are seriously considered".

Frederick W Gilling Sunday 14 February 2010