Sep 20th, 2017
Committee Rigged
By Moon Saker
This is a bit sinister. While all eyes are on Brexit, Theresa May is trying to pull off a massive power grab in parliament. She wants to rig the committees of MPs that scrutinise new laws. We’ve got just a few days to stop her.
On Tuesday she will try to rush through the rule change. If she wins, she can pack influential committees with MPs who agree with her. It’s an attempt to bypass parliament – and democracy – to make it much easier for her to get her way.
Thankfully, Theresa May’s been spotted just in time. This morning, newspapers started exploding with the story. What’s needed now, urgently, is the voices of us, the voters. If thousand of us can grow a massive petition in the next 24 hours, it’ll prove that we expect MPs to stand up for proper democratic process, and block this dodgy rule change.
If you agree Theresa May shouldn’t be allowed to change the rules so she can force laws through, please sign the emergency petition right now:
This proposed rule change was snuck out yesterday, while MPs were distracted debating Brexit. It would overturn the established rule that the government only gets a majority on committees if they have the most MPs in parliament. If Theresa May gets away with it, it makes parliament less powerful. Every single MP, whatever their party, would have less power to hold her government to account.
It’s always tempting for politicians to try to bend the rules when they’re not getting their own way. And this isn’t the first time that 38 Degrees members have had to stand up to them to protect our democracy. Like when we stopped Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt bringing in a new “hospital closure clause”, after the courts ruled he couldn’t shut Lewisham hospital. Our democracy needs us again today.
This is urgent. We’ve only got a few days to stop this. Please sign the petition now, then forward it to your friends and ask them to sign too.
PS: This isn’t the only campaign that 38 Degrees members are working on to try and stop the government from grabbing more power than they should be allowed. As part of the Brexit “Great Repeal Bill” 38 Degrees members are also trying to stop a move from Theresa May to bypass votes in parliament to change our laws. Let’s make sure all MPs know that we expect them to uphold democracy and do things fairly:
