Monday 11 May 2009

A dog of a day

Unusual day today to say the least. I nearly tripped up David Blunkett's dog (by accident). As some sort of doggy karma, I then fell down the escalator at Victoria.

I would like to point out that the dog was unharmed and I only suffered dented pride...

Met with a rather forward thinking 'old school' Labour MP, who talked a lot of sense about the problems Ministers have with communicating and making decisions. He said that to get policies changed, Ministers are often the last people to 'talk' to as they are so tied by their position and party line. It's a simple point often missed by lobbyists and PRs and it makes a lot of sense.

So how could this situation change? I think select committees should be given more powers and increased scope to question Ministers and hold them to account, as this could help unshackle Ministers and proivde a better insight into the workings of the Cabinet. At the moment, Ministers can just dance round them as they know thwy are ultimately powerless. The govt should also be forced to answer Committee reports within 8 weeks. I could go on but the point is Committees are one of the few mechanisms of parliament not damaged (most of the time) by party politics.

Anyhow, you will be glad to hear that the MP didn't offer me a drink and that has saved the taxpayer £1.80 in expenses...

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