Save Parliament!

The besetting sin of this government seems to be an inability to see that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The latest example of this is the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill which appears to be, in effect, a bill to abolish parliament if any government minister was minded to give it a go and drafted the necessary amendments fast enough to change law before anyone could object. Why this is a problem can be seen in this comment.

When presenting the bill, Jim Murphy MP, who seems to have the job of getting this bill passed, said:
I give the House clear undertakings, which I shall repeat in Committee, that the orders will not be used to implement highly controversial reforms.[- House of Commons debates, Febuary 9th 2006]
This is not enough. The current government can promise not to abuse it's power all it likes, but can it speak for every government that will exist after it? If the bill should not be used for "controversial reforms", then that limitation should be written into the bill. As it stands, the bill can modify any existing legislation, without exception.

It simply is not good enough to rely on the good will of ministers. This was the kind of legislation that enabled Hitler's takeover of democracy, once upon a time. The website is new and has suggestions for further action.
See also Murky.
Save Parliament!: Filed in: UK, governance, legislation, constitution, power