Number crunching
Thursday, January 15, 2009 Other bloggers have already commented on David Cameron's proposal to reduce by ten per cent the number of MPs. There are currently 646 MPs in Westminster so this would mean a total of 582, the lowest since 1801 when the union of Ireland with Great Britain increased the number of MPs from 558 to 658. (According to Wikipedia, that is.)
Frankly, I'd go further, starting with the Scottish Parliament. Short of abolishing it completely (my preferred choice), there is no need for 129 MSPs. Remove ten per cent and the number is reduced by 13 to 116. Frankly, I can't imagine that anyone would notice the difference. So why stop there?
The UK has a population of 60 million represented by 646 MPs. Scotland has a population of five million represented by 129 MSPs. Why? By my calculations (based on the Westminster ratio), the Scottish Parliament should have a maximum of 54 members.
Reduce that number by a further ten per cent (to match David Cameron's Westminster proposal), and the figure (adjusted upwards) is 49. Now that's what I call less government.
Simon Clark
And it's not just politicians who should be culled. The BBC reports that:
Ex-trade minister Lord Digby Jones says he was "amazed" to discover how many civil servants "deserved the sack". He told a committee of MPs he thought the civil service could "frankly ... be done with half as many" people. The ex-CBI chief ... described the civil service as "honest, stuffed full of decent people who work hard". But he added: "Frankly the job could be done with half as many, it could be more productive, more efficient, it could deliver a lot more value for money for the taxpayer. I was amazed, quite frankly, at how many people deserved the sack and yet that was the one threat that they never ever worked under, because it doesn't exist.
Full story HERE.
Reader Comments (3)
The Scottish Executive (I absolutely refuse to call it a parliament or a government-it is neither) can keep their 129 MSPs as far as I am concerned.
I would however, demand a bicameral system to match Westminster. Right now we have no Upper House, which means we have no-one ratifying, or rejecting, the laws and regulations that vomit out of that ugly building on a daily basis.
If I sound somewhat bitter, it's because I am.
Last year I got increasingly frustrated. We had a petition lodged with the Health Committee (as did the Fife Action Group) and both petitions were rejected by a blinkered, inept, self-regulated and self-appointed committee. I watched live on "Ugly-Building Cam" as they simply tossed them both aside.
No proper discussion or debate was held.
With Executives like these, who needs Governments?
They fail at every level.
I am always reminded of the Two Ronnies joke: Civil Servants have been banned from looking out the windows in the morning..... so they have something to do in the afternoon.
Individually there are many fine, dedicated, hard working and talented people. They are let down with a culture of incompetence, where initiative is squashed, proceudure is king and ticking boxes is the be all and end all of your job.
Politicians are tarred with the same brush and have no reason or backbone to change things.
"But... madam/sir... why did all those people have to die? Why did you need to tell such stonking great whoppers about everything? Was it all for... for... this?"
"Comrade. I will try to explain. We are a godless people and, therefore, a people without moral-compass. Be then thankful to our brothers and - equally - if not slightly more importantly - sisters of the greater Union for being our touchstone and guide here. Delivering unto us our annual targets. Entirely arbitrary of course, but they give us reason to get out of bed in the morning and they give you lot something implausible to strive towards... like the donkey chasing that carrot."
"But we're the ones paying for it! We've purchased the carrot! And yet do you the vendor hold it aloft, beyond our mortal reach. This carrot's a scam! It's a Ponzi carrot!"
"All Gods require sacrifices."
Snatching the lit cigarette from my hand and stamping it into ground, Hattie Harperson then swooshed into her WonderWimmins outfit and disappeared once more unto Gordon's night.