Charles Kennedy

Liberal Democrats | Ross Skye & Lochaber

Kennedy Response To Queen’s Speech: Our Voting System Belongs To A Redundant Age

Charles Kennedy, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, responded to today’s Queen’s Speech. He began by  saying that the first-past-the-post voting system was ‘a redundant system which belongs to a redundant age’.

He reminded colleagues of the Liberal Democrats’ opposition to the ‘centralisation of targets which…we have argued over this election are distorting the clinical priorities within the Health Service.’

On the anti-terrorism measures he said that ‘individual liberty should never be in the hands of an over mighty executive but should be within judicial control of a long established nature’ balanced with ‘the continuing vigilance needed where approaching and combating terrorism is involved.’

Commenting on the inadequacy of the Salisbury Convention he said that on ‘matters like ID cards’ we should not ‘force through that legislation and expect the House of Lords to be acquiescent.’

On the issue of pensions he said that it was ‘vital to try and re-establish what was a long-standing all party consensus’. Mr Kennedy spoke about the Liberal Democrats’ pledge to reform local taxation and he reminded parliamentarians that ‘we’ve got a Labour Party presiding over this form of local taxation which clearly is not going to sustain.  We have a Conservative Party which only introduced it in response to the complete hideous shambles of the Poll Tax, which led to the demise of their leader at the time.’

Finally, Mr Kennedy addressed the issue of Europe. He said it was ‘time that we make a positive case for Europe, one that actually engages and persuades the public’, saying that the ‘Government must be seen to be heavily engaged in this to go out and make the positive case for Europe and to win whatever referendum it is that comes down the track at the time.’

---

Excerpts of Mr Kennedy’s speech follow below:

Charles Kennedy said:

“Each and every party now has to reflect the fact that to greater or lesser extents we are competing minorities across this country.  And there is one important implication of this.  The House of Lords since 1947 has operated the Salisbury Convention.  The Salisbury Convention recognising back then, nearly sixty years ago, that you had a majority Labour Government but you had an overwhelmingly Conservative hereditary dominated House of Lords.  Hence that convention to respect a mandate from a Government elected in this House even although it could not command a majority in the other House.

“But it’s worth reminding ourselves compared with this election just passed in those days the Labour majority here was a hundred and forty six supported by forty eight per cent of the popular vote cast at that election.  What a far cry from where we find ourselves today in this House.  But also what a far cry from the position that the Prime Minister has set up in the other House because now for the first time in history Labour is the largest single party in the House of Lords, the hereditary element quite rightly in our view has been largely eroded and may yet be completely withdrawn altogether.  And it seems to me that the Government cannot, particularly where bitterly contentious items of both Lords reform and other matters like ID cards and so on are now concerned should not be falling back on such an inadequate basis of election here to force through that legislation and expect the House of Lords to be acquiescent.  It is absolutely ridiculous that this Government should now be falling back on a sixty year old convention relating to absolutely different political circumstances to justify what it’s putting forward in its Queen’s Speech today.

“And the second issue of course Mr Speaker related to this, the second issue, Mr Speaker, related to all of this is of course the voting system itself… I believe that the result of this election yet again underlines that first past the post voting in this day and age is a redundant system which belongs to a redundant age of British politics (indistinct) British society’s more fluid, party allegiances are much less fixed, our society as a whole is more aspirational as a result and therefore surely the time has come to revisit as the Prime Minister first promised by reneged on when he was first elected as Prime (indistinct), Prime Minister to re, revisit the whole issue of voting reform in this country…There are now losers geographically amongst every party in every part of the country.  And that is why surely the duty is on us all to look at it afresh.

“Now I would have thought at the end of eight years in office, buttressed by three bigger majorities in the closing stages of a campaign where if I would have been in his shoes I was seeking this historic Labour third term I’d have something a bit more positive and persuasive to put to the public than the argument: don’t vote for that lot over there even although you don’t like me and us because you might end up with somebody else even more to your disliking.  What kind of contortion and absolute distortion of people’s votes in this country is that, and it came from the Prime Minister himself.

“Now Mr Speaker on some of the headline legislation before us today, we will certainly maintain our consistent and principle opposition to a system of compulsory national identity cards.  We have been through many of these arguments before, we look forward very happily, particularly with a reduced Labour majority in this House, to replaying those arguments again and to see how attention may have shifted with opinion in the Parliamentary Labour Party and indeed in the wider country.

“On health and education and benefits reform our views were set out obviously at the recent General Election.  We need to look closely at the legislation now being put in front of us but it’s clear that there are differences between the parties as to the shape of the reform that’s required.  Now we opposed the imposition of top up fees and tuition fees on our students.  When I hear the Honourable Lady speak movingly and sincerely about her ability to get up the ladder of social opportunity I simply put to her and her colleagues how much is that ladder now being pulled up behind us from those that we are trying to help from (indistinct).

“We’ve also opposed, Mr Speaker, the centralisation of targets which we believe and indeed there is agreement about this in many respects, we have argued over this election are distorting the clinical priorities within the Health Service.  And we continue to favour the reduction of class sizes in our schools and the boost to the teaching profession with it.  We’re all for diversity in the provision and the quality of public services but the evidence, the evidence that most of us surely experienced during the campaign and the run up is that the real choice people want to know that they can get for themselves and for their families at the point of need and based on need not based on ability to pay is quality local provision be it the school, be it the hospital or whatever rather than this false idea of massive choice involving travel, involving complexity and all the rest of it.  And that, and that is the, and that is the approach that we will continue with.  (Indistinct).

“On the issue of terrorism Mr Speaker it was such a feature, such a contentious feature in this House and the Lords in the run up to the election we are going to be returning to the anti terror legislation in this Parliament.  I would just say that I hope that we might yet, it was a very partisan atmosphere in the run up to the election, we all understand that, I hope nonetheless on this issue when the legislation is being revisited it may yet prove possible to establish an all party consensus on the matter.  Now that consensus surely has got to remain true to many of the principles that several of us were arguing for at the time, not least that key decisions about individual liberty should never be in the hands of an over mighty executive but should be within judicial control of a long established nature.  But at the same time we have to balance that alongside the continuing vigilance needed where approaching and combating terrorism is, is involved.

“If there’s also another area, Mr Speaker, which surely is vital to try and re-establish what was a long standing all party consensus until (indistinct) in Government the Conservatives chose to broke it, that is over long term pensions policy.  Pensions policy by definition should be something which the individual citizen can rely with a degree of certainty about irrespective of the vagaries of individual elections or which Governments find themselves in office.  And I hope that when we see the further report later this year from Adair Turner it will be possible to get back to a sane debate in which there is an ability to put together with Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat as happened back in the early seventies after years of before that of exactly the kind of disjointed approach that we had to the issue I hope it will be possible to revisit that.

“And finally Mr Speaker or penultimately local taxation reform, an issue which we put forward our positive views about, controversial they were too, much criticised they were by some, warmly applauded they were by others.  I think that’s what elections should be about.  But what is, if you’ll forgive me, but what is quite clear is that the Government (indistinct) are returning again later this year to the issue of the funding of local government and again there I hope that we might see a bit more of an informed debate based on sensible proposals which will come forward rather than simply rejecting each and every idea that comes from every other quarter.  Because the one thing I would say is this, that we’ve had the Conservative Party which introduced the Council Tax, the Labour Party which I believe will have to reform the Council Tax, they know as much as anybody else does, as we all do how deeply unpopular and regressive it is.  So we’ve got a Labour Party presiding over this form of local taxation which clearly is not going to sustain.  We have a Conservative Party which only introduced it in response to the complete hideous shambles of the Poll Tax, which led to the demise of their leader at the time.  And all of that followed on from an old rating system that was completely unsustainable which in days previously had been supported by both Labour and Conservative Government.  So I’m not going to take any lectures from other quarters when the people have presided over such an absolute mess on local taxation and that is why we will continue to make the case.

“And my final point Mr Speaker is this, I’m sorry no, that in terms of Britain’s role in the world there, there was obviously much discussion about the Iraq issue during the campaign and rightly so, and we remain of the view that in the course of not just this Parliament but this calendar year we should be planning for a responsible phased withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.  And I rather regret beyond the obvious controversies of the campaign, the leaks and so on, that there wasn’t more of a broader discussion about Britain’s role in the world.  But this Parliament will undoubtedly, whatever happens in a French referendum in a week or two or anything else, be very much dominated by the European debate, and correctly so.  And it is time that we make a positive case for Europe, one that actually engages and persuades the public.  I believe that those of us of all parties again who have had informal contact in the last Parliament must now work as never before and the Government must be seen to be heavily engaged in this to go out and make the positive case for Europe and to win whatever referendum it is that comes down the track at the time.  Because the pro European parties at this election secured fifty eight per cent of the votes that were cast and I consider that a matter of great encouragement where that issue is concerned.  But we’ve got to be prepared to build upon it.

“Mr Speaker, I think that one of the developments in recent years in politics and it was confirmed with the outcome of this election is that there is a fundamental party political Parliamentary but also public need for the Liberal voice to be heard on so many issues of the day.  And where we see Labour politicians reconfirmed on such a marginal mandate introducing illiberal measures they can be assured that they will receive a Liberal response from these benches for the good and the quality of our politics as a whole.”