NEW MPS ARE LIKELY TO BE BRIGHT AND HARD-WORKING

Labour’s Austin Mitchell seriously seeks to suggest that the British public will suffer because many MPs will stand down. He claims there is a danger of creating a “weak Parliament with members who aren’t well paid enough to do their job”.

This presupposes that the Commons has hitherto been brimming with high-calibre people determined to hold the executive to account at every turn. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. With their long summer recesses and obsession with ingratiating themselves with party whips in order to facilitate personal advancement, many of our MPs have failed to put the interests of their constituents first.

Mr Mitchell’s Labour colleague Andrew Dismore claims: “People are trying to work out whether they can afford to stay in Parliament.” If they cannot, then let them stand down. Their replacements are likely to be brighter, harder working and – wonder of wonders – in possession of a genuine interest in public service.