In Your Face

Less is More

I understand that Denis MacShane the British Minister for Europe (no, I’ve never heard of him either) has stated, on ePolitix.com, that the UK has too few Members of Parliament (MP’s).

He believes that the current malaise that afflicts the British electorate, as reflected by poor voter turnout and increasing cynicism about the effectiveness and honesty of our elected politicians, could be cured; by raising the number of MP’s from the current 1 per 1800 voters to 1 per 300, as in the USA. That would be a six fold increase in the number of MP’s!

This, in my view, is one proposal that should be swiftly consigned to the dustbin of history. An increase in the number of MP’s will have the following consequences:

 The costs of government will rise; more MP’s means more salaries, more accommodation costs, more support services and more government departments.

 Taxes will rise to fund the increase in government costs, ie we the voters will have to pay.

 More MP’s equates to more talk, and less action.

 The larger the machinery of government, the more greedy it becomes to take on more powers to justify its existence; and the more likely it is to interfere in, and over-regulate, peoples’ lives.

 Britain, as a result of an ineffective emasculated opposition party (more intent on its own self destruction), is ruled by the diktat of a Prime Minister who shows utter contempt for the parliamentary process. More MP’s will not change this disgraceful situation.

The malaise of the voters would, as a result of the above, simply increase further; democracy would be further eroded.

In my view, given the inverse relationship between the size of the government machine and its effectiveness; “less is more”.

I therefore propose that we, the voters, press for a reduction in the size of parliament and the machinery of government.