Parliamentary reform chair in Liverpool

By James Taylor

A senior labour politician has said there are some colleagues he “wouldn’t let walk his dog.”

In a lecture given at the University of Liverpool, Dr Tony Wright MP, explained his views on politics and the current nature of government.

Dr Wright, who is the Chair for the Committee on Commons reform, outlined the duties of a politician and explained how politics have changed the role of MPs. He spoke about his career as an MP and why he would be stepping down before the election this year saying, in jest, that this was not due to expenses.

He said: “MPs cannot be changed into social workers,” when addressing whether or not MPs should deal with the individual interests of constituents. This is a view that is contrary to the way many politicians see their role. He added: “By usurping local council and government it could be seen as adding to the over-centralisation of government.”

The focus of the lecture was the downward spiralling trust that many people feel towards politicians after the expenses scandal. Mr Wright said: “Distrust in MPs has reached toxic proportions.”

His views on the subject implied that MP's expenses had spiralled out of control, saying: “It would have been nirvana 40 years ago to have accommodation paid for in London,” continuing that back then MPs had to stay in London hostels.

For MPs and the future of political parties, the expenses scandal has the potential to narrow the pool of people interested in politics and would be “a significant negative outcome.”

The expenses scandal started when it was exposed that MPs had claimed for unessential items on tax payer's money. Mr Wright says that this is partly due to the uncertainty of yearly pay for MPs.
He said: "It is difficult to determine pay for a job that requires no formal qualifiactions and has an over-supply of applicants."

His views portrayed Westminster as a mixing pot of many different agendas, however he did express one distinct line between MPs as: "the difference between those who think politics is the exercise of power and those who think it is the control of the exercise of power."

Some shocking claims were also expressed, saying that: “Most of the time MPs don’t know what they’re voting for.” Mr Wright even admitted that the statements he was making he would never repeat in Westminster.

Mr Wright categorised MPs into several factions, the most damning being named the ‘Lickspittles’. These are politicians that will stoop to any level to further their own political career, and Mr Wright said that the commons could do with a lot less of these.