Boundary changes lessen the representation of communities
Philip Dunne’s reluctance to endorse the proposed parliamentary boundary changes is understandable. No democrat worth their salt would have anything to do with redrawing the political map in this way, and the South Shropshire Green Party also made formal submissions to this effect to the the Boundary Commission.
Disturbingly, the Boundary Commission fails to do what it should do enhance democracy - instead this is managerial move towards more and more centralisation. Reducing the number of MPs to 500 will, it is claimed yield savings, but greater savings could be had by first looking at the House of Lords (now the biggest member chamber apart from China) where, according to a recent report by the Electoral Reform Society, only about 300 out of the 800 peers are consistently active and nearly one in 10 of the peers eligible to vote are inactive when it comes to scrutinising the Government’s work on committees, in the chamber, or through written questions – vital roles for the revising chamber.
Also perturbing is that 55 Lords claimed more than the average take home pay of full-time employees during the 2016/17 session – despite the house sitting for just 141 days. And 33 inactive peers picked up £462,510 in tax-free expenses – claiming an average of £746 per vote.
This situation urgently needs to change - but instead the Government, like its predecessors, continues to stuff the Upper House with political appointees. The Green Party wants to see a fully elected Upper Chamber.
Too, If Parliament were devolving its powers down to a series of democratic regional assemblies the need to reduce the number of MPs at Westminster would be a stronger case. As it stands such changes on equalised constituencies that involves boundary changes will lessen the representation of distinctive communities.
Locally, the proposed new boundary for the Ludlow Constituency, which crosses the county line into Herefordshire, lessens the feeling of belonging as this in no way brings the electorate closer to the decision making - which is what reform should be doing. Democracy doesn’t come cheap, but a well defined truly democratic representative system is worth every penny spent.
John Lloyd
South Shropshire Green Party
