Recall of MPs Bill

Chris Heaton-Harris Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Thomas Docherty]

I will make a little progress if I may. Amendment 47 relates to MPs who have fiddled their expenses.

[Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con)]

rose—

[Thomas Docherty]

I will give way one last time.

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

Surely amendment 45 puts even more pressure on the Committee that decides on suspensions because it knows that the threshold has been reduced from what the Government propose—28 days, or whatever—to 10 days. I would much rather leave it to the people, but in my opinion we would be putting pressure on the Committee that would make the judgments, and any punishment would therefore fall the wrong side—or the right side for the hon. Gentleman—of those 10 days.

[Thomas Docherty]

I have a great deal of respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I struggle with his logic. Does he trust the independent Standards Committee? As I said a few moments ago, it would be genuinely independent and would have a majority of lay members. A Member of Parliament would not chair it. If he does not believe that an independent Committee can judge fairly and rationally the bad conduct of his colleagues, I am not sure what his faith in the system would be.