This afternoon Prime Minister Gordon Brown started the official process of reforming Parliament, redressing abuses and reconnecting voters with our leaders.
He met with immediate scepticism from opposition parties who accused him of trying to save his own electoral position by tweaking the system and a history of dragging his feet on reform (legislation is promised only after the summer recess). Others called for a commitment to a referendum on the eventual recommendations.
There are clearly limitations to any promises of reform by politicians who have benefitted from a failed system for years.
Nonetheless, the Prime Minister's announcement is welcome, not least for acknowledging the size and scope of the problem.
Please help us to hold him accountable to his promises to clean up British politics and give the voters back their voice.
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I feel that is is most important to control/define the behaviour of politicians once elected.
All votes in the House should be votes of conscience and only those who have sat through the debates should be allowed to vote. This obviously means no "pairing", and no Whips, the Divisions bell would also be redundant.
Debates should be allowed to reach a conclusion with no regard to the length of the debate, this would prevent the "talking out" of a bill and the use of the guillotine by the Government. It would also reduce the amount of legislation which can be carried out in any Parliamentary session.