ACCOUNTABLE COMMONS
"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."
Robert Jackson
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“What power have you got?
Where did you get it from?
In whose interests do you exercise it?
To whom are you accountable?
How do we get rid of you?
And if you can’t get rid of the people who govern you, you don’t live in a democratic system.”
Tony Benn
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The United Kingdom needs members of Parliament who:
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are committed to serving the people;
are committed to ending the careerism associated with entering parliament at a relatively young age
(with little or no experience of real life and real work)
and remaining as an MP for the rest of their days;
are committed to the concept of not standing for selection as an MP without at least 20 years real-life experience,
in work or even on benefits, struggling to pay their bills and make ends meet;
are committed to limited terms of office - no more than 15 years or 3 general elections.
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For a number of years now, more and more people across the UK have lost faith and trust in Members of Parliament - our elected MPs, whose generous salaries are paid for by British taxpayers.
Many MPs are seen as unrepresentative of their constituents and those that become government Ministers,
even more out of touch with the lives of the people they are supposed to serve.
The people of the UK need to be able to dismiss bad MPs and the current Recall Act does not go far enough in enabling people to remove those who are unsatisfactory.
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Boris Johnson was elected on the back of his promise to finally get the UK out of the EU.
This he did - despite the efforts of a number of MPs to have the result of the referendum on EU membership overturned.
However small the majority of that referendum, it was still a majority in favour of leaving.
Those MPs who tried to stop Brexit betrayed their country and democracy - none are now MPs.
Both Conservative and Labour, all were deselected or otherwise removed by the people.
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And Johnson - a Conservative - won the general election in December 2019 by winning seats previously long held by Labour MPs; those MPs had lost the faith and trust of the people who elected them.
So it can be done.
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Johnson's trade deal with the EU was as far from perfect as it could be but it did at least point in the right direction. The unelected EU commission's behaviour since the UK departed demonstrates how untrustworthy it is
but the UK government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic (along with many others around the world)
aided by compliant and unrepresentative MPs in the House of Commons, has been far worse.
When somebody becomes an MP they are there to serve their constituents first, but also the country as a whole - particularly when becoming a Minister of Government.
They are elected as MPs to serve the people. Not the other way around and not to mount, aid, abet or help
an assault on freedom and liberty such as experienced by the people of the UK in recent years.
That's why I founded Accountable Commons.
Unrepresentative MPs must be removed, either by deselection or by a Recall Act that gives greater power to the people.
We will campaign for both.
Please come and join us. Help make Members of Parliament and the House of Commons truly accountable to the people of the United Kingdom.
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Kevan James
Founder, Accountable Commons
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The Mother of All Parliaments.
The United Kingdom has stood like a beacon for freedom and liberty with a parliamentary system of government that has led the world.
Yet today, many elected members of the House of Commons - the UK's Members of Parliament or MPs for short - are considered by increasing numbers of ordinary citizens as untrustworthy and interested only in themselves.
Accountable Commons believes that MPs must be subject to scrutiny and if found wanting, must be subject to early dismissal.
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Can You Contribute?
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Write to the Letters Page with your comments -
Anybody can write in so please do;
Give YOUR view;
What is your MP like;
and don't be afraid to name them either.
Use your real name however and add the County you live in.
We - and you - have more credibility if you are willing to stand up and be counted.
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Sign up as a site member
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and leave comments on articles published
(user names are okay)
To become a site member go to the
Opinions and Articles page;
Click on any article and at the top right is a 'Log In/Sign Up' box;
Click on that and sign up using your email address.
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Are you willing to help take a stand against poor MPs?
Can you write reasonably well and research facts?
Do you have website know-how?
Even if none of these there will be something you can do
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Get in touch and help make MPs accountable to the people they serve.
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