Your blogs: The passing of the “Mother of Parliaments”

Andrew: Just as it is sad and tragic when a much-loved parent, friend or institution has outlived the time of their competence, contribution or even relevance, but fails to recognise it, so it is with the Mother of Parliaments. It is not just the recent petty expenses scandals and sordid shenanigans within the decaying culture of political life that I find sad, it is the catastrophic loss of trust or belief in the system by a generation of people who are arguably more informed, aware and potentially engaged than any before it.

I believe there is pent-up energy in civil society to tackle large issues but there is no faith in the current political processes. This loss of possibility and potential to make an impact on the large issues that matter most for the future is one of the main reasons I think there needs to be root and branch reform of the way politics is conducted in the UK. The many factors that have led to this political decay are well known, but I particularly react against the Blairing, blurring and de-basing of political language, where to say what you mean and mean what you say is a politician's cardinal error since you might be held accountable for it. Making the truth toxic in this way kills trust and faith in debate.

I also believe the professionalising of politics where the politically ambitious move straight from university to political life without the 'gap years' of Real Life to inform their ambitions, is an alienating factor as are the arcane procedures and protocols of parliamentary conduct. There are many interesting ideas around to widen the franchise of representation, communication and accountability. Over the past 20 years there I have been alarmed at the centralisation of power to the Executive with a diminishing accountability to the rank and file of MPs in Parliament and to the electorate. The most notable recent case in point was the large opposition to the Iraq war among the electorate that the Executive ignored and many MPs allowed the whip to silence them.

The intelligent electorate knows that there are many sacred cows and nostrums that have to be challenged, such as the structure of the NHS, how the UK is policed, the unfettered freedom of the financial markets, economic growth and environmental responsibility, the price of civil liberties etc., yet truthful and courageous political speaking has been notably absent on most of these crucial areas. As a consequence, I cannot see that peripheral tinkering with the system by the incumbents will revive trust, competence and engagement amongst the electorate.

The Mother of Parliaments hasn't and probably cannot see its time and ways have passed, so I want to see a new generation (young and old) bringing new ways to conduct effective democracy in the UK.