PM ‘should seek MPs’ support for war’
The prime minister should not be able to wage war or deploy troops without parliamentary support, an influential group has argued.
Chaired by former chancellor Kenneth Clarke, the Conservatives’ new Democracy Taskforce calls for a weakening of the prime minister’s powers to encourage a return to cabinet government and restore public trust in politicians.
Decisions on war should not rest with the prime minister using royal prerogative and all treaties with financial, legal or territorial consequences for the UK should seek parliamentary approval.
In its report An End to Sofa Government, the taskforce argues Tony Blair’s off the cuff “sofa” style of politics has damaged public faith in government. In response it calls for a new ministerial code to entrench this principle, to make government more open, democratic and accountable.
The report states: “We believe that in recent years, the combination of an over-powerful premiership and the dominance of news management within policy-making have been very damaging to both effective and accountable government.
“Cabinet government has been all but destroyed. Most ministers have become little more than the presentational vehicles for the policies of political appointees in Number Ten. Presentation has led policy. The civil service has been left to carry the blame for policies that have proved impossible to implement. Parliament has been expected to be the prime minister’s poodle.”
Mr Clarke, who served as chancellor under John Major, wants a return to proper cabinet government, arguing it is essential “to make government work better and to reverse public cynicism about the tacky system of government and politics which New Labour has imposed upon us.”
He argued: “A personal, presidential, off-the-cuff, accident-prone style of government has grown enormously under Tony Blair. It will increase and become more personal and authoritarian under Gordon Brown.”
The new ministerial code would not be monitored by the prime minister but instead be overseen by a body comparable to the National Audit Office.
Mr Clarke also called on the committee on standards in public life to publish a code of conduct covering government publications and advertising campaigns.
The Tories last week accused environment minister David Miliband of using his government-funded blog to spread Labour “propaganda”.
Mr Miliband has used his personal blog on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website to defend the government’s record on the countryside, in a post that was later removed amid protests.
Mr Clarke made his call for a strengthened ministerial code as the committee on standards in public life published its annual report.
Committee chair Sir Alistair Graham also called for a revised ministerial code of conduct, to be “short, simple and principle based”.
In a preview to the report last week, the outgoing chair of the committee warned Mr Blair had undermined public trust in politics, blamed on part on his “disregard” for cabinet government.
