UKC

So should the HoC have a secret ballot for any vote on delaying Brexit or stopping a no-deal Brexit?

I think this would be a good thing and it would remove the pressure being put on Conservative MPs by being threatened with suspension and de-selection.

Whip to rebel MP conversation...

"Did you vote for the government?"

"Of course I did" - lying a la Boris

I have this morning e-mailed a Mr Bercow about whether this would be possible.

It's a really really crap idea, right up there with prorogation to avoid scrutiny. We (the great unwashed) must know who voted for what laws. 

So you're happy with the level of arm-twisting that's going on?

Personally, I'd like it if all MPs had the guts to ignore party pressure and always vote how they believed. Parties should be able to persuade their MPs by reasoned debate rather than using force, but unfortunately that's not the culture in our parliamentary system.

Anyway, already got a response (<20 mins!!!), all votes will be through lobbies.

I offered a compromise on here some time ago. Secret ballots in parliament but then all voting records made public the moment campaigning starts for a new election so voters can decide for themselves on the basis of their own MP's record.

So you are happy with major bribes being paid to MPs to vote in ways the rich prefer?

Of course not, I want all MPs to have complete integrity and honesty (ha ha), but you didn't answer my question.

If there ballots were held in secret, how could we trust any parliamentary decision?

I wasn't advocating it for all votes but I appreciate it might set a precedent.

Still no answer though

Arm twisting is a side show.

Once you allow MPs more opportunities to lie, they will. There comes a point where they have to be seen to do what they said they would do, ideally in real time and in public

That's so delightfully bonkers I can see other people supporting it.

No it shouldn't, clearly. Aaron Banks etc would just bribe MPs. 

The flip side being they could ignore constituent pressure. I understand where you're coming from but no.

They do anyway.

My preference would be for Political parties to be outlawed, and for candidates to stand on their own policies, conscience and actions in their local areas.

Failing that, I think we need to move to proportional representation which will bring in a more compromising form of politics with coalition as the normal form of government as it moderates actions whilst still including the more extreme views

No, that doesn't work because it doesn't take into account what's best for the country ... which always has to take precedence. We have to vote for parties that have a raft of clearly comprehensible policies that are coordinated and broadly coherent. The detail on complex issues like Brexit has to be handled by MPs and Parliament. (Basically, a 'board of experts' approach v. the vague whims of amateurs.)

Without in any way meaning to be insulting Gordon, you have been around for quite a long time.

In all your years have you ever known anything like what’s been taking place over the last few years?

No, absolutely not.

And it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

Sanity might just break through, and the whole thing just fizzle out. Or, by 'worse', I think you mean, as I do, something much worse. Boris calling the army in, or some such ... But I'm still slightly optimistic that he's fatally weakened. Jkarran I think has a far clearer idea of the various possible scenarios now than I do.