Martin Bells book aims to restore our democracy

24 March 2010

Martin Bell, the infamous man in a white suit, who was the first Independent MP since 1950, is horrified by the extent of the sleaze in Parliament, which he documents in his new book, 'A Very British Revolutions: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save our  Democracy'.

Martin Bell won his seat as Member of Parliament in 1997, when he stood in the Tatton constituency against the disgraced MP Neil Hamilton .  Hamilton had accepted cash from Mohammed Al Fayed, and had attempted to amend the 1989 Finance Bill, which would have resulted in multiple million pound losses to the treasure in saving the oil industry taxes, and this notoriously Tory constituency was unprepared to vote for a dishonest candidate.

Prior to standing for office of MP, Martin Bell was a well respected BBC foreign correspondent, who had reported from the front line in the Balkan conflict and Iraq War. He was horrified by the idea of parliamentary democracy being damaged by Members of Parliament failing to take their responsibilities seriously and more importantly undermining democracy by taking cash for questions, underhand lobbying activities, and any other matters that could bring the Houses of Parliament into disrepute. However even as a career journalist, he was himself aghast and horrified at the extent of the revelations of MP's expenses, as the scandal broke last year.  The telegraph's reporting of the details of MP's expenses was obtained in advance of any disclosure by Parliament.  The new Freedom of Information Act required detailed data about MP's expenses to be open to public scrutiny, just as is required in all other institutions. However it appeared that many MP's wanted others to disclose data openly and transparently, but apparently did not feel that this legislation should apply to them. In fact some MP's went to quite great lengths to block the attempts towards open disclosure, and of course, speaker of the House, Michael Martin lost his job as a result.

Martin Bell opens his book by giving detailed information about the extent of the expenses scandal, as well as details of the expressions of concerns of honest parliamentarians, civil servants and parliamentary aides, who all feel as though they have been tarnished by the actions of others. He gives an insight into the good guys as well as the downright low life, but makes it clear that it is the minority alone that are blameless. He explains the seven principles that should guide politicians in their work; including integrity, objectivity and selflessness, and he clearly demonstrates many cases where these principles were substantially lacking.

However this book does not set out to discredit individuals, as one might think at first, but in reality aims to look at a system that is systemically dysfunctional, and the extent to which this is undermining confidence in our democracy, and its potential to allow extremism to take hold on account of voter apathy and despondence. Bell's writing is a call to action, so that as citizens we reclaim our right to be governed by people who are interested in serving our communities, by utilising the knowledge, skills and experience they have developed through their life experiences, rather than accept the current trend towards career politicians, who make short term expedient policy, because they will not have to be accountable for the consequences and are more interested in servicing their own careers.
The most interesting aspect of the book is Martin Bells reflections on the Iraq War and Afghanistan. He believes that any MP who advocated and voted for the Iraq war does not deserve a seat in the next Parliament. He also gives a very concise account of the issues relating to lack of equipment that persists in the campaign in Afghanistan, and the contrast between the money that Sir Richard Dannett has asked for in order to ensure his troops safety (prior to his retirement last year), and the simultaneous milking of taxpayers' money so that people could service their moats or flip their homes several times, and thus avoid capital gains tax.

This book is hard to put down if you are remotely interested in government and politics at the simple citizenship level and at times I felt deeply moved. My reading about the contrast between the memorial service for the fallen soldiers at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan coincided with having just watched two former ministers; Geof Hoon (Defence Minister) and Stephen Byers (Transport Secretary) blatantly describing how they would make themselves available for hire to anyone who was prepared to pay them for their Parliamentary connections, all revealed to an undercover reporter for Channel 4's Despatches Programme. 

 Martin Bell's words quoted from the sailor's website: Rum Ration sums up the sentiment precisely, and means it is difficult not to feel real sorrow and anger on behalf of the mothers, widows, orphans and brothers of soldiers who were (and still are) lacking in equipment.

''While you were all fiddling your expenses, our men were dying from want of Helicopters''

After Stephen Byers subsequent denial of his own words as being 'exaggerated' and 'inflated',  Martin Bell went on the record to the BBC to say the claims were shocking. Martin, or any of us for that matter, shouldn't be surprised in reality, but somehow this revelation is more sickening than the original expense scandal, probably because the lobbying that is undertaken is likely to achieve more lucrative savings in tax or contractual awards, which may well amount to much larger, more difficult to quantify, losses for the common taxpayer. We know corporate lobbyist stand to gain something by their work, otherwise they wouldn't waste their time undertaking it. What is less clear is who loses, and what precisely is lost. Can we be sure that at the same time as ministers refuse to take action on Professor Nutt and Liam Donaldson (both eminent experts) call for minimum pricing on alcohol, that ministers, such as former Health Secretary's are not arranging to be on the Boards of Alcohol manufacturers. Will they get in any taxi?

Martin Bell is under no illusion about what needs to be done to restore trust in democracy. He believes that now is the time, like no other, for people to vote for candidates by scrutinising their personal credentials and values, rather than rigidly voting on party lines and feels the opportunity is ripe to see many more independent MP's returned to Parliament. However he could only bear four years in Parliament himself, which does not bode well for anybody who wants to do the job in order to make a difference. Rather despairingly, the words of Nobel Prize winning Doris Lessing, from 'the Golden Notebook' are ringing in my ears.

''If you want to know what is wrong with an institution, ask the people who leave''

Martin Bells recently launched book A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy is published by Icon Books.
Martin has already published Accidental MP, Through the Gates of Fire: A Journey into World Disorder, and In Harm's Way. Click on the links to use our book price comparison service.