4. Parliamentary sovereignty
To recap. We will be ready for government. We will grip the Whitehall machine. And we won’t let the wider system outside Whitehall stop us.
So this is my fourth and final point. The institution we respect the most is our sovereign Parliament. Yes, under our system the Crown is ‘in’ Parliament – the executive governs through the legislature. But Parliament is also the proper, indeed the only rightful, check on the executive. International law, and the civil service, and the quangocracy, and the trades unions – they are not there to second-guess the government. But Parliament is.
Now Reform UK is not best pleased with the current Parliament. Neither House reflects the actual state of opinion in the country. And I think I speak for all MPs when I admit my shame at some of the sessions I have sat through in the making of laws. The farce of the Bill committee system – brilliantly explained in Ian Dunt’s book How Westminster Works – is a particular embarrassment, as is the use and abuse of Statutory Instruments or Delegated Legislation.
Reform UK will restore proper Parliamentary government. Our immediate priorities require legislation that – backed by our election mandate – we will pass as fast as we can. But alongside this rightful urgency, we will reform Parliament to ensure it does its proper job to scrutinise Bills, and hold the Government to account, on behalf of the public.
Call to action
Let me finish with a call to action. We need help now, as we prepare for government. This is the first in a series of speeches and posts in which colleagues and I will be setting out our plans for government. And we invite responses – we invite people to get involved. If you have experience or expertise we want to hear from you.
Zia Yusuf, Richard Tice and my other Parliamentary colleagues and I are setting up a series of advisory groups and sounding boards to gather insights into how things work and how they need to change. If you feel you can contribute – publicly or privately – please get in touch via this webpage…
Because I can’t stress enough the importance of our mission and the weight of the responsibility on Nigel, Zia and the rest of us.
The fundamental reason people are increasingly backing Reform is because they believe us when we say we will bring change.
In 2016 with Brexit, and in 2019 with Boris Johnson, people voted for change but they got chaos and stasis: crisis and drift. The current government came into office promising change – and everything has carried on as before, only worse.
I’m not sure our democracy can stand another government promising change and delivering failure. I know Nigel Farage is determined to be different. But to help him be the Prime Minister the country so badly needs him to be, we need the country’s help.
Step up. Step forward. Get involved. Britain needs Reform, and Reform needs you.
Thank you.
