Letter: A House badly in need of reform

Sir: Last Monday (20 June), I initiated a debate on reform of parliamentary procedure. According to a recent poll, four out of five British people believe that 'feeding time at the zoo' is a

fair description of the House of Commons. The House is not reflective of the population - women and supporters of smaller parties are among those under- represented. Many of Parliament's bizarre rituals bemuse and irritate the public.

Worse, Parliament is not performing its basic functions at all well. It does not hold ministers to account, select committees are under-resourced and their reports are inadequately debated. Ministers use various tricks to avoid giving straight answers to questions. Prime Minister's Questions is a partisan jousting match that provides little useful information, let alone real accountability.

Parliament does not do a good job on legislation. Too often Bills are considered in a hasty, sloppy and excessively partisan manner. Ministers increasingly use statutory instruments - over which Parliament has very little influence - to enact policies.

The debate was interesting because of the contrast between the narrow approach of the Conservative and Labour front benches (and the petty point-scoring of their lobby fodder) and the substantial, positive contributions of others.

We need comprehensive parliamentary reform, including freedom of information legislation, pre-legislation scrutiny by select committees, more time for Parliament to consider Bills, and legislation to define the accountability of quangos. Above all, we need to diminish the power and control of the major parties.

If this does not happen, Government arrogance and the malaise in the political system will continue to grow.

Yours sincerely,

PAUL TYLER

MP for Cornwall North

(Liberal Democrat)

House of Commons

London, SW1

13 June

(Photograph omitted)