Parliamentary Reform
Debate between Natascha Engel and Fiona Mactaggart(13 years, 9 months ago)
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Natascha Engel
Yes. I would not like to say that we should never go back to our constituencies, but the hon. Gentleman makes an absolutely fair point.
Fiona Mactaggart
One thing that the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) did not speak about—unsurprisingly, because she is a one-Member party in this place—was the way that the Whips operate. One of the things that I found when I first entered Parliament was that the infantilising impact of Whips on Members of Parliament was quite damaging and it shows in some of the issues that my hon. Friend is raising. Every Member of Parliament is different. Every Member of Parliament brings different experience and represents a different type of constituency. We need to find mechanisms whereby those differences, within the context of party agreement, can effectively be aired so that we get the best legislation that we are capable of making.
Natascha Engel
I agree. Sometimes, however, we are in slight danger of overplaying the idea that Whips infantilise Members and sometimes we should just be big enough to stand up to them, if we have an issue.