Dear All
Politics at times can be a fast moving business,
particularly when the whiff of possibly scandal is bouncing about the place,
chuck in a General election coming up and minds get focused rather quickly.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind was caught up in a Daily Telegraph /
Channel 4 Despatches sting operation; he was offering “useful access” to all
the UK ’s
ambassadors to a fictitious Chinese company.
Malcolm Rifkind wasn’t just a run of the mill MP; he was
previously a Foreign and Defence Secretary in John Major’s government as well
as being seen as a Scottish Tory grandee.
His career kicked off when he was elected back in 1974 as an
MP in Edinburgh ;
it was a very successful career in many respects both personally and
politically. He was also the chairman of the Intelligence and Security
Committee which is one of the most prestigious committees of the House of
Commons.
Now with the resulting publicity of the sting operation, he
has resigned as chairman and will be stepping down as an MP for Kensington and
Chelsea.
During the meetings with fake representatives of the Chinese
company, Sir Malcolm is said to have described himself as “self employed”.
That is rather novel given that taxpayer pays him a £67,000
a year MP’s salary on the basis that he will represent his constituents
interests in Parliament. How hard an MP works or even if they are good value
for money remains subjective. There are some pretty dire MPs kicking about the
place or prison depending on what they get up to.
As to be “self employed”, it is said that Malcolm Rifkind
wasn’t cheap, he charged anywhere between £5,000 and £8,000 a day.
Presumably he sprung for his own lunch, mind you big
companies sometimes lay on grub. This episode will no doubt have damaged his
reputation but given Rifkind has stepped down as Chairman and not contesting
his seat, the press interest should more or less move on. Although no longer
Chairman of his Committee, Rifkind will remain a member and see out his term
before stepping down.
In a statement today he was still unapologetic regarding
what has happened.
He said:
“None of the current controversy with which I am associated
is relevant to my work as chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee
of Parliament. However, I have today informed my colleagues that while I will
remain a member of the Committee, I will step down from the chairmanship. The
committee is due to be dissolved in little over a month with the prorogation of
Parliament for the forthcoming General Election. The main substantive work
which needs to be completed will be the publication of our Privacy and Security
Report during March. I do not want the work of the committee and the
publication of the Report to be, in any way, distracted or affected by
controversy as to my personal position. I have concluded, therefore, that it is
better that this important work should be presided over by a new chairman.”
As I said things in politics can move really fast, this
resignation is quick even by the standards of the House of Commons. Sir Malcolm Rifkind stepping down as Chairman
of the Intelligence and Security Committee was the right thing to do. I would
have let the voters decide of whether he should have continued as MP for Kensington
and Chelsea.
Some MPs as I understand it made £7 million last year,
presumably the voters should look very closely at who is representing them and
are they getting best served, or are they just getting used so that someone can
use the House of Commons as a gateway to further enrichment.
In many ways, this is a sad end to a career in the House of
Commons spanning over 40 years. Somewhere down the line after the dust has
settled, Sir Malcolm Rifkind will probably get a peerage and end up in the
House of Lords given his track record of government service.
This episode shows that Westminster still needs to address some
issues in order to rebuild public trust, which hasn’t recovered since the
expenses scandal was first brought into the public domain.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
1 comment:
I personally don't think you should have a second job George if it means paying MP's more money so be it. I would also have it that you were barred from consulting or lobbying for about 5 years after either a parliamentary or civil service career. However after the other stings you would think that mp's would have learnt by now, just goes to show you can have alll sorts of brains and a lack of basic nouse the fact an unknown company was interviewing should have had antenna twitching. If the figures said out of 12 MP's approached 6 turned them down probably because they figured someone was at it .
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