Day one of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) delegation visit to Westminster kicked off with a briefing from the NZ High Commission in London. We discussed some of the key issues our diplomats over here are working on with the UK parliament, in particular the Youth Mobility Scheme, immigration in general, the Air Passenger Duty, EU Dairy Subsidies, Agricultural Trade and Food Miles.
An interesting fact we were given was that 99.75% of New Zealand’s food and beverage exports to the UK are transported by sea (food miles tend to be calculated assuming air travel).
The rest of the day was spent in Westminster. The first briefing was from the UK CPA branch about CPA activities and the structure of the UK parliament. We had a general discussion comparing and contrasting our two systems. Obviously we had a lengthy discussion about expenses and allowances as well as proportional representation, reform of the House of Lords and the election of the Speaker which was to occur later in the day.
One difference that really stands out is that whipping isn’t nearly as strong here as it is back home. The election of the speaker, for instance, is a secret ballot (a new process being used for the first time) and many MPs have been able to break from their party leaderships’ position and cross the floor without causing a crisis. I suspect there are two things at play here: The shear number of MPs (646, although two do not take their seats at present) means it is hard to stop factional groups forming, at least around specific issues, and the considerable majority that Labour holds means a few lost votes aren’t going to bring the Government down in a hurry. Also, parties don’t have the same influence that they do in a proportionally representative parliament.
We then had lunch with three UK MPs. Carol Beaumont and I had an interesting discussion with Meg Munn, MP for Sheffield Heeley about increasing the proportion of women in parliament and specific measures UK Labour has undertaken to achieve this.
After lunch we sat in the gallery of the House of Commons to watch the nominees for Speaker deliver their speeches. A straw poll amongst the 6 of us picked Sir George Young based on the speeches although we all noticed eventual winner John Bercow but thought he might be a bit too much of a maverick. He probably is and that might just be a good thing.
The final briefing of the day was from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology about their function in Westminster and work they have done to provide MPs and Lords with advice on Climate Change.
A really great start to the week. I hope the rest of the visit lives up to it.
Any lessons on how to fill out expenses claims?
More seriously though, that huge majority of MPs that NewLabour have is entirely down to their FPP system. The political culture also reflects this. I hope you get the chance to explain proportional representation while you’re over there, and how it can deliver stable and responsible government, despite the wild claims of its critics.
Yes one would think that if ever the time was right for the UK to shift to proportional representation, it is now.
Thanks for the post Ian – if there is one thing that is not well known it is the details of this type of trip. This sort of detail can only help understanding of them, and hopefully help the media move past the childing ‘junket’ labelling (not that this has happened in this case, but they do that for pretty much any overseas trip).