Cutting the Cost of Politics
The coalition government has announced plans to cut the number of Westminster MPs - from 650 to a mere 600 honourable members.
Good for them - at last an outbreak of common sense - if a bit too modest - when you consider that this involves a cut of less than 8% on the current number of MPs.
Apparently this will save the country £12 million a year - to spend on more important and useful things - which is not to be sniffed at in the present financial climate.
But in Scotland it smacks of political leaders waking up to reality - at long last.
Why?
Because a Scottish Parliament was created in 1999 along with an additional 129 MSPs - who then assumed responsibility for 'devolved' areas of work - previously overseen by Westminster MPs.
The Scottish Parliament is now responsible for health services, local government - including education and social work, police and fire services, agriculture and so on.
Around half of what Westminster MPs did previously - was handed over to the Scottish Parliament - so why do we need all these Westminster MPs?
The honest answer is we don't - and while the present number of MPs (59) has been slightly reduced from its 1999 levels - there is still plenty of room for cutting the political classes down to size.
Handing half their workload over to the Scottish Parliament - but then keeping broadly the same number of MPs - sounds like a job creation exercise, rather than good government.
So, two cheers at least for the coalition government - this is a win-win situation and long overdue.
Good for them - at last an outbreak of common sense - if a bit too modest - when you consider that this involves a cut of less than 8% on the current number of MPs.
Apparently this will save the country £12 million a year - to spend on more important and useful things - which is not to be sniffed at in the present financial climate.
But in Scotland it smacks of political leaders waking up to reality - at long last.
Why?
Because a Scottish Parliament was created in 1999 along with an additional 129 MSPs - who then assumed responsibility for 'devolved' areas of work - previously overseen by Westminster MPs.
The Scottish Parliament is now responsible for health services, local government - including education and social work, police and fire services, agriculture and so on.
Around half of what Westminster MPs did previously - was handed over to the Scottish Parliament - so why do we need all these Westminster MPs?
The honest answer is we don't - and while the present number of MPs (59) has been slightly reduced from its 1999 levels - there is still plenty of room for cutting the political classes down to size.
Handing half their workload over to the Scottish Parliament - but then keeping broadly the same number of MPs - sounds like a job creation exercise, rather than good government.
So, two cheers at least for the coalition government - this is a win-win situation and long overdue.
