Sunday, October 16, 2022
Abdicating to the Brexiteers
With the UK economy already reeling as a result of Brexit, ensuring that things are not made worse by the neo-liberals and free-marketeer isolationists who run the government must be a priority for any right-minded politician.
However, according to this article in the Independent, MPs are failing to properly scrutinise the lagislation that is dismantling the sensible checks and balances that allowed our country to prosper within the EU.
The paper refers to a new report by constitutional experts at the Institute for Government, which details how scrutiny of EU matters has "dwindled" and become "a niche activity" on the green benches:
Figures collated by researchers show that Labour MPs in particular want to "avoid looking back at Brexit" for political reasons, it suggests.
Average attendance of Labour MPs at the parliament's European Scrutiny Committee has been below 50 per cent in the most recent parliamentary sessions since the Brexit vote.
And if one regular Labour MP who attends the meetings is discounted, other Labour MPs have attended just 11 per cent of the sessions open to them.
The committee scrutinises developments relating to Britain’s relationship with the EU, including the withdrawal agreement.
Despite reams of Brexit-related legislation still working its way through Whitehall – and Liz Truss's plan to repeal all EU laws in the coming years – Brexit has also disappeared from the main Commons chamber.
The IfG researchers note that the number of Brexit-related urgent questions in the Commons fell from 45 in the 2017-19 session to under 15 in the 2019-21 session.
And parliamentary select committees are barely touching on the subject, with just seven of 235 inquiries held by committees since the 2019 general election on post-Brexit issues.
Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and the author of the report, said parliament needed to start properly scrutinising the government’s decisions.
"Parliament needs to make a reality of taking back control and ensure government is held properly to account for what it does and fails to do."
Far from taking back control, Parliament is abdicating responsibility to the government.
The paper refers to a new report by constitutional experts at the Institute for Government, which details how scrutiny of EU matters has "dwindled" and become "a niche activity" on the green benches:
Figures collated by researchers show that Labour MPs in particular want to "avoid looking back at Brexit" for political reasons, it suggests.
Average attendance of Labour MPs at the parliament's European Scrutiny Committee has been below 50 per cent in the most recent parliamentary sessions since the Brexit vote.
And if one regular Labour MP who attends the meetings is discounted, other Labour MPs have attended just 11 per cent of the sessions open to them.
The committee scrutinises developments relating to Britain’s relationship with the EU, including the withdrawal agreement.
Despite reams of Brexit-related legislation still working its way through Whitehall – and Liz Truss's plan to repeal all EU laws in the coming years – Brexit has also disappeared from the main Commons chamber.
The IfG researchers note that the number of Brexit-related urgent questions in the Commons fell from 45 in the 2017-19 session to under 15 in the 2019-21 session.
And parliamentary select committees are barely touching on the subject, with just seven of 235 inquiries held by committees since the 2019 general election on post-Brexit issues.
Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and the author of the report, said parliament needed to start properly scrutinising the government’s decisions.
"Parliament needs to make a reality of taking back control and ensure government is held properly to account for what it does and fails to do."
Far from taking back control, Parliament is abdicating responsibility to the government.
