Orders of the Day — European Parliamentary Elections Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 6:04 pm on 25 November 1997.

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Photo of Dr Brian Mawhinney Dr Brian Mawhinney Shadow Secretary of State 6:04, 25 November 1997

My hon. Friend makes a strong point.

What is envisaged is even more restrictive than what we have talked about so far. The party, not the voters, will decide the order of people to be elected. Surely Ken Coates, Labour MEP for Nottingham, North and Chesterfield, was right to say that with such a system We will end up with a bunch of new Labour clones. The MEPs elected under this system will not be accountable to their constituents, but to Peter Mandelson—this will be nothing but a recipe for creeping. Whatever Ken Coates's skills, he does not write editorials for The Times. Lest Labour Members are inclined to dismiss him, let me quote an editorial of 23 October, which says: The party's actions show all the worrying signs of a leadership that has become obsessed with control. It continues: Whatever their personal interest, the dissidents are right to protest against an electoral system that puts the power of selection in the hands of the party's centre, leaving none for voters or party members. This is bad for democracy and will be bad, eventually, for the parties too. The Government plans to introduce the worst possible kind of PR for the European elections. Its 'closed list' system allows voters no say over which candidate they want: they can merely vote for a party, which will then appoint its own placemen to the Parliament. It concludes: As it is, 1999's European elections promise to be a triumph of party manipulation over genuine voter choice. The hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich put it at least as elegantly.

What was the reaction of new Labour to the dissidents in its ranks? Open? Tolerant? Transparent? Modern? It gagged them. They were told that they could not discuss the issue, that they could not criticise the party and that they could not complain. That is new Labour.