As part of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee I had the opportunity to quiz the Leader of the House, Chris Grayling MP, again. My questions focused specifically on the undemocratic selection of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. You can watch the Committee meeting here.
Currently, delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are appointed by David Cameron. The most recently proposed UK delegation includes 5 Lords, 4 Baronesses and an Earl. I cannot see how this can be in line with the democratic principles of the Council of Europe or democratically representative of our country’s demographic. The proposed list has been criticised for not including three ‘independently minded’ Conservative former members of the delegation and has been described as ‘undemocratic’.
I would much rather we followed the democratic systems of our European neighbours, including Germany, Greece and the Netherlands who put forward their nominations directly from parliament.
The current delegation shows Cameron’s dangerous tendency to further his aims with no regards for the democratic nature of the parliament and even to the detriment of the democratic process of his own party.
Ronnie Cowan MP 