No. 10 last night confirmed that the Recall measures mentioned in the Queen’s Speech would mean it is MPs on the Standards Committee and not local voters who will decide whether shamed MPs should be booted out. The reforms will change nothing, MPs are still marking their own homework.
Zac Goldsmith has been one of the main proponents of a genuine Recall Bill to give power to constituents. He called up Nick Clegg on LBC this morning to let him know what he thought of the government’s impotent proposals. Clegg said it was all the fault of Tory backbenchers:
[gigya src=”https://abfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/swf/default_player_10.swf” style=”background-color:transparent; display:block; box-shadow:0 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15); min-width:480px; max-width:700px;” flashvars=”image_option=none&imgURL=&link_color=steelblue&mp3Author=WikiGuido&mp3Duration=243601.0&mp3LinkURL=https%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F2226426-clegg-zac&mp3Time=08.52am+05+Jun+2014&mp3Title=Clegg+Zac&mp3URL=https%3A%2F%2Faudioboo.fm%2Fboos%2F2226426-clegg-zac.mp3%3Fsource%3Dwordpress&player_theme=light&rootID=boo_player_1&show_title=true&waveimgURL=https%3A%2F%2Fd15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net%2Fi%2Fw%2F632569″ width=”480″ height=”150″ allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”transparent”]
Clegg says that “Zac and I are completely at one”. Which doesn’t exactly have the ring of truth about it given Zac tweeted this a few months ago:
Even by the shitty standards of dishonest UK politics, the LibDems really are revolting. I cannot understand why anyone supports them.
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) February 13, 2014
Wonder what he thinks of Clegg today…
UPDATE: Zac responds.