Chicken Yoghurt: Myrmidons are made of this

Myrmidons are made of this

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Bit late with this but I thought it worth noting. Simon Carr, the Independent's parliamentary sketch writer has been one of the - disgracefully - few journalists to cover the passage of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (another excellent summary here) as it blazes, white hot, through the firmament of democracy. It would be no exaggeration, in fact, to to say Carr's been all over it like Charles Clarke with a pork scratching he's found down the back of the sofa.

Carr wrote twice last week about the Bill's passage through its committee stage. Tim Ireland has a transcript of the first article. The second one is reproduced here (with apologies).

Carr has an interesting point to make about Jim "offers long and detailed assurances about how the Act will and won't be used. When asked to put these assurances into the Bill, he refuses" Murphy, the minister steering the bill:

This extraordinary bill has been introduced by Jim Murphy. Slim, smiling, aquiline. Jim is usually the best-looking person in the room. But he is one of nature's sub-alterns and to give him this monstrous regiment was an act of brilliant cynicism by the business managers. Call the Bill something people don't even want to remember and give it to a nonentity who won't survive a 2 per cent swing at the next election.

Murphy should be careful. The way this government's careering out of control a 2 per cent swing might end up being wildly conservative. He could find himself back on Civvy Street and on the rough end of his own legislation, like the rest of us. As Harrison Ford's boss says to him in Blade Runner: "If you're not a cop, you're little people".

He's something of an enigma, is Murphy. Entered Parliament in 1997 aged 30 and used to be president of the National Union Students (and we know how far some of them they - Straw, Clarke - went). And that's it. No word of what he did before he became an MP or what life experience qualifies him for kicking the legs out from under democratic accountability. I smell professional politician but may be wrong.

(It also shores up my theory that we're entering a new Dark Age - yet another young prince unwitting or uncaring of what he's doing.)

Carr continues, chillingly:

The crucial clause will slip through, masked by the insignificance of the sponsor and the anaestethic properties of regulatory regime merger clauses. "But our ambitions are wider than that!" Sunny Jim said, inadvertently. How wide? Only time will tell.

But our ambitions are wider than that! Tomorrow belongs to Jim. It really can't be stressed enough that this is a dangerous, undemocratic piece of law dressed up as dry, dusty and dull parliamentary procedure and sold as a wonderful cure-all for business red tape. It's a medicine show and Murphy is the snake oil salesman.

The Bill passed its committee stage on Thursday which means it now passed to the House of Lords for consideration. You can only hope they've the energy for another fight. It's not enough just to be angry or worried or "Bloody New Labour!" about this. It's time to Save Parliament.

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6 Comments:

On March 14, 2006 12:50 PM, Friendly Fire said...

Yes the Dark Ages are upon us.

First they came for the bloggers.
But I wasn't a blogger.
Then the came for the (fill it in yourself).

On March 14, 2006 1:48 PM, Larry Teabag said...

I don't think I've ever hated anyone in my life like I hate Jim Murphy now.

Cynical as I am, I am nevertheless astounded that anyone with any interest in democracy could think that enacting this Bill in this way, is good idea. It makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.