From my article in The Sunday Times today:
“Our democracy is not working. Our parliamentarians have no mission. Being an MP is not a job. There is no task, no vocation, no ambition. Parliament is a waiting area for promotion and prestige. The process of seeking re-election is not liberating, it is paralysing. They’re at work for a few hours a week and few know what they’re meant to be doing. The onslaught of legislation is beyond anyone’s attention span and debate is largely pointless. Experts are only at hand to help ministers. The rest fend for themselves or don’t bother. Laws are not written so much as they’re rubber-stamped.”