Peers are not above the law

As someone who hopes to take his seat as the next MP for Keighley and Ilkley after the next General Election, I maintain a keen interest in what Parliament is up to.

Obviously the elected chamber, the House of Commons, is of greatest interest to me. But the House of Lords also has a very important role to play in our democracy.

Prior to its reform and the removal of all but 92 of the hereditary peers, the Upper House effectively had an inbuilt Conservative majority.

However, the creation of scores of new Labour life peers, first by Tony Blair and more recently by Gordon Brown, has reversed this.

The changes have also altered the atmosphere of the place. It has a harder, more professional edge and the Labour Whips in the Lords are every bit as ruthless in their approach as they are in the Commons.

That is one reason why the ongoing scandal surrounding four Labour peers accused of accepting payments to amend laws is so important, for it goes to the very heart of how that party and this Government conducts itself.

It also goes right to Gordon Brown’s door, not least because one of those accused – Lord Moonie – is a close friend of the Prime Minister and even stood down from his Commons seat at the last General Election in favour of the then Chancellor whose seat was being abolished.

I was therefore pleased to hear that Conservative Leader David Cameron, should he become Prime Minister, would change the law to expel peers found to break the code of ethics.

All politicians – whether they are local councillors or parliamentarians – should be dealt with very harshly if any allegations of corruption against them are found to stick.

And that includes members of the House of Lords.

Minister "green shoots" herself in the foot

Before yesterday, I hadn’t heard of Baroness Vadera.

But, after her “green shoots” comments yesterday, she is now a household name.

And, not only is she a Business Minister, but she is also apparently one of Gordon Brown’s closest confidents.

Her comments were described by some as “insensitive,” coming on a day when thousands of people found out they were to lose their jobs, and this is absolutely right.

However, of even more concern was the fact that it exposed the quality of advice the Prime Minister is receiving on the economy.

We already know that he is completely out of touch.

But it is distressing to learn that someone handpicked by Gordon Brown to guide him on business issues appears to be even more remote from the realities of life than himself.

You couldn’t make it up.

No guarantees with Labour loan scheme

Today’s Government announcement of a £20 billion loan guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized firms is a pale copy of Conservative Party policy and a move which seems unlikely to get the banks lending at the level required to help the economy.

The scheme will, in effect, enable the Government to insure banks against companies defaulting on loan repayments.

But David Cameron and George Osborne have argued for some time that £20 billion is not enough and, instead, Ministers should go further and underwrite £50 billion of loans.

Time will obviously tell whether this Labour Government has, yet again, made the wrong call.