Representative Swearing

Mere weeks after voting a new set of snouts into the Westminster trough, the great British public has demonstrated once more its fundamental lack of appreciation for our Mother of Parliaments. Campaigners against Britain's precious hereditary democracy have released a poll showing that a majority would favour Commons expenses claimants swearing allegiance to their constituents - including, presumably, the majority of those constituents who voted against them or did not vote at all. Not only would this imply that MPs represent constituents in Parliament rather than representing parties to consumers; it would very likely impress the feeble-minded as an argument against our Mother of Electoral Systems. Worse yet, it would entrench a something-for-nothing culture in which somewhere between sixty and seventy per cent of the electorate would expect some sort of service from their MP without having done anything to earn it. There would also be untold moral confusion among that élite cadre of MPs who have no connection at all with their electorate but are parachuted into the constituency in the interests of efficientising voter distribution. As long as members swear allegiance to the nation's biggest landowner and wearer of the most expensive hat in the Commonwealth, there remains at least the possibility of some sincerity to the oath.