I am tapping this out on the train from London to Leeds, reflecting on a turbulent month, quite unlike any in recent memory.

This morning’s front pages are reporting the tragic death of Michael Jackson at the age of 50.  The first time in ages that the press is not leading on a political story.

The expenses scandal has dominated the news for weeks and is only now beginning to blow itself out as a story. That said, there may well be more revelations.

Next week we shall have three days to debate and vote on the Parliamentary Standards Authority Bill which will hand over all responsibility for allowances and expenses to this independent body. It will become a criminal offence to fiddle expenses. We shall, I hope, be giving up completely the right to vote on and set our own salaries.

GOVERNMENT CHANGES

Next door in Burnley, Kitty Ussher is standing down at the next election. She told me she has found it very difficult to juggle the work of an MP with her responsibilities to her young family. We learn that Greg Pope over in Hyndburn is also not seeking re-election.

Elsewhere, many Ministers have left the Government. Hazel Blears, Geoff Hoon,  James Purnell, Caroline Flint and, perhaps, others. I have lost count. But the Prime Minister is still there, holding the fort and shoring up the defences as best he can.

The recent elections were dire, although in Pendle we more than held our own with George Adam and Mohammed Iqbal being successful. However, we lost control of Lancashire and, indeed, all the remaining Labour County Councils and we plumbed new depths in the European Elections getting just 16% of the vote. We also have the ignominy of being represented in the European Parliament by the Leader of the BNP.

A NEW SPEAKER

Elsewhere, in the House of Commons there has been a changing of the guard with the little lamented Speaker Martin standing down, the first Speaker in over 300 years to be forced out of office. I was not prepared to vote for a third Labour Speaker in a row and plumped for Alan Beith and then Sir George Young.

I can live with John Bercow as Speaker. He is certainly going to be much more interventionist than Michael Martin whose constant refrain was that, whatever the issue of contention, “it is not a matter for the Chair”. Thank goodness Martin has gone.

One of the big issues to be addressed concerns the balance of power between the Government of the day and Parliament. Clearly, the Government should have time to get its legislation through the House but that doesn’t mean it should control the business of the Commons, the appointments to Select Committees, the progress of Private Members’ Bills and much else besides.

THE IRAQ INQUIRY

This was thrown into sharp relief by the way in which The Government has sought to shape the Inquiry into the Iraq War. This was supposed to be part of the Brown relaunch and it has blown up spectacularly in his face as he alone sought to determine the scope and terms of reference of the Inquiry, its membership and detailed way of working. It was going to sit in private. But following the furore, that has changed (at least in part). There was to be no military input. Now there is to be a military “assessor”. The whole exercise was completely botched.

On a brighter note, my Ashcroft amendments to close the loophole which allows tax exiles to bankroll UK political parties, was carried in the Lords. As you know, I asked Dale Campbell Savours to table the amendments I put to the Commons but were not reached.

ASHCROFT

In an historic vote, more Labour peers voted for Dale’s amendments than voted for the Government and the Bill as amended will have to return to the Commons where MPs at last will have their say.  The Government has not, as yet, conceded the point but I cannot for the life of me believe Jack Straw will ask Labour MPs to join the Conservatives to reverse the Lords’ decision. More likely is procedural fancy footwork of the type in which Jack excels.

Next week, we have a work experience student at Carr Road and I shall be setting him various tasks other than making the tea and opening the mail. Writing press releases on local issues; drafting a brief on the case for the reopening of the Colne – Skipton railway for the ministerial meeting on 7 July are just a few of the things to keep him busy!

At Westminster, not a lot is happening on the legislative front. We have many days with little Government business. It is as if the expenses thing has squeezed the life out of the place. My Select Committee is a welcome place of activity where we are conducting inquiries into Executive Pay in the Public Sector; Leaks and Whistleblowing; 2011 Census; and the appointment of GOATS. (People appointed to a “Government Of All the Talents” elevated to the peerage and given Ministerial posts). We may well ask the pantomime act, Sir Alan Sugar, to appear before us.

The Postal Services Bill, part privatising the Royal Mail, completed its stages in the Lords on 20 May but there is still no date for its arrival in the Commons. The only private sector “partner” still in the frame is a private equity outfit. The Dutch Postal services operator, TNT, and the German post office have both pulled out.

Friday 26 June 2009