The system is broken – we need another solution to the scourge of sleaze

Editorial: We believe it is too late for piecemeal action. The abuses are too widespread, have carried on for too long and their impact on public confidence has been too corrosive

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Boris Johnson must put sleaze behind him. That might seem a tall order, given his own casual attitude towards the normal rules of financial and personal probity. His behaviour has been disgraceful at many levels. But it is powerfully in his own self-interest, in the interests of the Tory party and of parliament, and vastly more important for the good of the country as a whole that this demon should be laid to rest.

We cannot go on like this. This is not just about politics. It is about democracy. Our parliamentary system is under the gravest threat since the Second World War, arguably before. If there is to be one set of rules for the grandees and quite different ones for everyone else, then we slide towards anarchy. When an MP cannot see that there is something wrong in lobbying on behalf of companies that are paying you, or a newly elevated peer cannot grasp that becoming a lord in exchange for a party donation is not acceptable, then the country is in deep trouble.

The prime minister has up to now managed in some measure to escape electoral punishment for his and his colleagues’ misdeeds. His popularity ratings have fallen sharply, but the Tories apparently maintain a narrow lead over Labour in the opinion polls. He has his huge majority and did win a general election in 2019 with the largest share of the popular vote for 40 years. But the winds of politics shift, and a chill one is already blowing from the north. His newly elected backbenchers did not come to parliament to be smeared by sleaze. They were voted in to try to level up the country, not to be sucked down by Westminster financial manipulation. They are angry, and rightly so.

But this should not be a party political matter. The apparent fact that Labour has so far failed to make greater inroads into the Tories’ popularity actually strengthens the argument for radical action. For many voters, Labour is seen to be in the same boat, for among other practices it too handed out peerages to large donors. Despite everything, Boris Johnson is still just ahead of Keir Starmer in their personal approval ratings.

So what is to be done? There are two possible approaches. One would be to have a series of detailed inquiries into the specific egregious practices of politicians. These would include the rules governing outside interests of serving MPs, and what former ministers and senior civil servants can and cannot do after leaving their posts. There has also to be an examination of the way peers are appointed and the place in our unwritten constitution of the House of Lords more generally. There has to be greater disclosure of personal interests at every level. There has to be greater scrutiny of the circumstances under which large spending decisions are taken. The list goes on.

There is much to be said for specific inquiries that look at specific issues. Detail matters and there are many detailed ways in which our political system might be strengthened and the various abuses – both those recently uncovered and those that have been long lasting – curbed.

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But The Independent believes it is too late for piecemeal action. The abuses are too widespread, have carried on for too long and their impact on public confidence has been too corrosive. Parliament has become detached from the people who elect their representatives to the Commons. The Lords has become at best ineffective in its role as a chamber that can revise and improve government legislation, and at worse a laughing stock. This is not just a question of what to do with politicians who behave badly. It is about the future of our democracy.

A royal commission is one option and should be urgently considered. A research paper tabled last year at the House of Lords Library was headed Royal Commissions: Making a Comeback? It pointed out that there had been none since 1999, when Tony Blair established one on the future of the House of Lords. There have been some 450 royal commissions since 1830, that were, as that briefing puts it: “appointed for a specific investigatory or advisory purpose ... Governments have often appointed royal commissions to address high-profile social concerns, issues that may be controversial, or matters of national importance.”

Tackling sleaze is all three. It is a high-profile social concern, an issue that most certainly will be controversial, and it is absolutely a matter of grave national importance. The government must act forthwith.