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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com conflict is one of the most serious any state can make. A decision-making process that is unaccountable and cannot be effectively scrutinised, is unacceptable. The strength of feeling about the way Britain was taken into the Iraq war was shown recently when Peter Brierley, father of a dead soldier, Lance Corporal Brierley, 28, killed in Iraq, refused to shake Tony Blair’s hand at the reception following the memorial service at St Pauls. He said: "I understand soldiers go to war and die but they have to go to war for a good reason and be properly equipped to fight. I believe Tony Blair is a war criminal. I can't bear to be in the same room as him. I can't believe he's been allowed to come to this reception. I believe he's got the blood of my son and all of the other men and women who died out there on his hands." Parliamentary approval for the deployment of troops became a major issue in the context of the decision to take part in military action in Iraq. For the first time, a vote in Parliament related to the proposed military action. Some believe that better parliamentary scrutiny would have led to a different decision. Parliamentary scrutiny is part of the constitutional principle of accountability both to Parliament and the people and ensuring that all issues are debated and scrutinised. Clearly information about the deployment of armed forces should not be made public. Ways of enabling Parliament to approve the deployment of armed forces, without endangering endanger the lives of service personnel or national security, are described below. Parliamentary scrutiny would include the decision as to whether to deploy troops but also crucially the plans for the conflict. One of the key issues arising from the troop deployment to Iraq was the lack of planning for eventualities after the initial military operation. The significant military experience in Parliament, particularly in the House of Lords, could have been much more effectively utilised. Examples from abroad suggest that it is possible to ensure the security of the armed forces whilst also allowing for scrutiny of executive decisionmaking. Unlock Democracy proposes a new select committee based on the model of the German Defence Committee. The Defence Committee in Germany is a departmental select committee, established in Basic Law which, in addition to the scrutiny of Bills and defence related matters, has power to act as an investigative committee and consider any defence matter of its choosing. The Defence Committee works in co-operation with the Foreign Affairs Committee, with access to relevant security information. Unlock Democracy propose a similar “Joint Defence Committee”, to act as an ‘honest broker’ between the executive and Parliament. It would have a similar policy remit to the existing House of Commons Defence Select Committee the key differences being: 1) it would consist of members from both Houses to ensure that expertise from the House of Lords is utilised 2) the chair would sit on the Intelligence And Security Committee, giving it access to all relevant security information 3) the committee would have the power to act as a committee of inquiry and therefore to require the presence of persons and papers 4) it would have the specific role of monitoring the armed forces and any plans for deployment 5) it would act as a guardian for the rights of service personnel 6) it would have permanent legal advice 156
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com 7) the committee would be able to meet in camera if either the chair of the committee, the Prime Minister or the armed forces deemed it to be necessary for the security of service personnel or in the interests of national security 8) papers would be confidential but, unlike the Intelligence and Security Committee, the committee would be accountable to Parliament and not to the executive. The Citizens’ Convention Bill, July 2007 a private members bill, unfortunately not enacted, sought to commit the Government to establishing a Citizens’ Convention which would actively involve people in deliberating on how to improve the way the UK is governed. The Government would be required to co-operate with the Convention in deciding on the implementation of those recommendations. The Bill would have committed the Government to consult widely on how the Convention should be composed, take all reasonable steps to ensure people from the most unrepresented and marginalised sections of society would be heard. Meetings and other mechanisms would involve citizens in all parts of the United Kingdom. Unlock Democracy continues to support initiatives to develop new processes for engaging the public in constitutional change and are still campaigning for a constitutional convention. But all these institutional changes won’t make much difference until politicians, journalists and people simply learn to behave differently. Nelson Mandela is right: Simple principles according to which we have conducted our own life ‘Indeed whether it be in the smallest community or the highest councils of nations or the world, there is a need for those simple principles according to which we have conducted our own life. These include accepting the integrity and bona fides of everyone no matter how they may differ from ourselves; loyalty no matter how much the circumstances regarding those to whom one is loyal may have changed; frankness and honesty no matter how embarrassing that may prove; and a presumption that however we may differ there are more important things we share. In other words what is required is that the mutual respect that underlies the mere possibility of negotiation should always inform the way we relate to one another as representatives of different nations and different sectors of the world community. Nelson Mandela, Independent Lecture, Dublin, 12 April 2000. The adversarial tradition in politics is outdated for the crisis we face today. Collaboration, dialogue, statesmanship and integrity are needed as never before. We may be at a turning point. The first peacetime coalition for more than eighty years may usher in a refreshing trend to pluralism. It seems to be working. The Big Society and the Your Freedom website invite citizens to get involved. The coalition moved quickly to propose reforms including a referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) system. AV is far better than First Past the Post (FPP) and a step in the right direction. Ultimately we need to press for the Single Transferable Vote (STV) which offers voters the best representation. The package includes the following: Coalition Plans Referendum on the AV system for general elections Five year fixed-term Parliaments - prime minister not able to call poll date 55% of MPs required to vote for the dissolution of Parliament and to trigger an election Committee to look at fully PR-elected House of Lords Cut in number of MPs and equal size constituencies 157
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