House Leader Ann Taylor

Tory Anger at Government Business Changes

The assault was mounted by Shadow Leader of the House Alastair Goodlad as MPs debated plans to establish a new select committee to consider how to modernise parliamentary practices and procedures.

He protested, "It has become clear that, to the Government, modernisation may mean changes to the House's procedures in the interests of Government and the small and secretive unelected group of political appointees at its heart, rather than in the interests of this House and our constituents."

Mr Goodlad repeated the Opposition's condemnation of the Government's decision to guillotine debate on the Bill to provide referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution.

He said the House was concerned about the lack of consultation before changing the format of Prime Minister's Questions and the number of political appointments being made without debate. He told Commons Leader Ann Taylor he hoped that she would "not succumb" to any pressure to use the new committee as a means for the Government to "entrench the abuses of its large majority".

For the Government, Mrs Taylor thanked the opposition parties for their cooperation in getting the new committee up and running quickly. She said they had agreed its priorities should be legislative procedures. Mrs Taylor declared that there was a great deal of goodwill towards the idea of modernising procedures and hoped the committee would act speedily.

Despite the Tory criticism, the motion creating the new committee was approved without a vote.

Labour's John Maxton (Glasgow Cathcart) said voters thought the way MPs did their work was "absurd" and urged the authorities to "get rid of the uniforms, the swords and the wigs". Criticising the lack of office accommodation for MPs, Mr Maxton said they should "think the unthinkable" and move into a modern Parliament building.

Paul Tyler, for the Liberal Democrats, condemned some of the procedures as "antique" and said the voting system could easily be reformed simply by using a swipe card. He added that the design of the Chamber represented the parliamentary two-party structure that existed in the 1950s, not the multi-party system that he said existed now.

Bassetlaw Labour MP Joe Ashton urged reform, especially of the voting procedures and the hours MPs were expected to work. "The divorce rates in this House are horrendous," he said, adding, "Everybody in the world thinks we are crazy. They say, why can't they sit at nine in the morning?"

In his maiden speech, Winchester's Mark Oaten said many new MPs were amazed by the traditions and procedures of the House. He called for a radical approach, especially to make MPs more accountable to their constituents.

Mr Oaten said he had promised his constituents he would report back to them in greater detail than some of his predecessors had done - and all MPs should do the same. "I would like to see Members produce an annual report for their constituents," he added. This should contain records of how the MP had voted, the meetings they had attended and how much they earned from outside sources.