Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, called today for a wider and more independent process of reform of Parliament.
Lucas said: "The election of a new Speaker must not distract us from the urgent need for sweeping electoral reform to make British democracy more representative of the diversity of British people and their opinions."
Voting for the new Speaker of the House of Commons begins at 230pm today, by secret ballot. Many of the leading candidates for Speaker are as implicated as anyone in the expenses scandal.
For example:
- Margaret Beckett submitted 121 gardening bills totalling £10,969 for her cottage in Derbyshire. (1)
- Sir Alan Beith claimed £117,000 in second home allowances, while his wife claimed £60,000 in House of Lords expenses for staying at the same address. (2)
- John Bercow claimed a total of £143,455 in second home allowances between 2001 and 2008. (3)
- Parmjit Dhanda voted, in 2007, for a Private Member's Bill that would have kept details of MPs' expenses secret. (4)
- Sir Alan Haselhurst was paid £104,050 a year as Deputy Speaker, yet charged the taxpayer over £14,000, from 2004 to 2009, to maintain his garden at his farmhouse in Essex (5)
Caroline Lucas concluded by saying that: "Any person elected today will be an insider to the political system. We need an independent commission to establish new rules for MPs housing and expenses, not politicians creating new rules to govern themselves."
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