Kelly alone isn’t enough - Tell party leaders we want real change

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Kelly alone isn’t enough - Tell party leaders we want real change

04.11.2009 // by Guy Aitchison

Guy Aitchison: If any more evidence were needed that the Westminster system is itself sick and in dire need of treatment then the behaviour of MPs in the build up to today's release of Sir Christopher Kelly's report on expenses is surely it.

Watching the sorry charade of MPs clinging to their second homes, "golden goodbyes", and the right to give jobs to their nearest and dearest, you can't help but wonder where this outspoken bunch were when we needed them to fight the issues that matter to the British people.

If they'd spent half the energy they have sticking up for their perks and privileges into defending our civil liberties, challenging the government on climate change and reining in the banks you can bet we'd be in a far better state than we're in now.

It now looks like the party leaders will accept Kelly's recommendations and urge their MPs to do the same. But what our politicians need to understand is that public anger over expenses is just a symptom of a much larger crisis in our democracy - not a cause of it. The current set of MPs have shown themselves unable and unwilling to face up to this crisis. For the good of our democracy, the best thing they can do now is take Kelly's medicine and be done with it. It's time for the people to take the lead in fixing our broken politics.

It's with this message that Pam Giddy, director of Power210, has written an open letter to the three main party leaders, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

We need as many people as possible to co-sign the letter so that the party leaders hear our message loud and clear: a new politics means more than just a clamp down on expenses - it means listening to the people and delivering the changes our democracy so desperately needs. Co-sign the letter here.