Monday, December 08, 2008

Reading between the lines...

There is an interesting Early Day Motion tabled by the Independent MP Dai Davies, and to which he is the only signatory. It reads,
That this House believes that appointment to select committees of this House should be based on experience, knowledge and merit; further believes that the work of Government departments is improved by proper scrutiny by select committees; and further believes that the political patronage of party whips and the way hon. Members have voted on Government motions should not be used as a definitive criterion in the selection of membership of select committees.
I guess there are two possible conclusion. Either (a) he thinks he's been passed over for a tidy little job on a Select Committee, or (b) someone else thinks they;ve been passed over and has been bitching.

5 comments:

Unsworth said...

All well and good. The question arises: Who determines whether appointees have sufficient "experience, knowledge and merit"?

Lobbydog said...

How about the Speaker? he seems to have things locked down.

But seriously, some of the appointments to Select Committees are questionable. It wouldn't hurt to have some sort of criteria for membership (provable experience in a subject area perhaps).

Anonymous said...

These are exactly the sentiments of Ken Clark's Conservative Democracy Task Force - and, I suspect are shared by many on all sides of the divide.

James Higham said...

Or else the principle is a good one.

J J said...

Lobbydog

You are being sensible.

Politics and sensible do not go together.