We must fight for Parliamentary independence

Dec 4 2008 By Philip Hammond, MP for Runnymede & Weybridge

These days, the defence of ‘privilege’ tends to look distinctly old-fashioned and out-of-place.

But the ‘Parliamentary privilege’ enjoyed by MPs is not merely an important historical tradition, but a fundamental part of our democratic arrangements that is worth defending – indeed, must be defended if what is left of our Parliamentary democracy is to survive.

The arrest and the raid on the parliamentary office of my colleague Damian Green (and to a lesser extent the raids on his homes and constituency office) are an affront to the principle of the independence of Parliament and the right of MPs to go about their parliamentary business unhindered, a right which dates from the 17th century and the clumsy attempts of Charles I to impose his will on Parliament.

Over the last few years we’ve seen a succession of Government measures, invariably taken in the name of ‘security’ or of the pursuit of ‘the fight against terrorism’ that give the State ever increasing power over individual citizens: powers to monitor their activities, their communications, their whereabouts and their affairs.

These powers, which many of us would readily accept if they were genuinely deployed in the battle against terrorism, are not being applied in the way that Parliament has been promised.

So we see British businessmen extradited to America and Icelandic banks having their assets seized, all under legislation that was introduced to combat Al-Qaeda.

But now this Government has surpassed itself. Anti-terrorist police raiding the homes and offices of MPs is the kind of thing that I never thought I would see in this country; the kind of thing that one reads about in newspaper reports from far away places.

Parliament cannot ignore this calculated assault on the independence of its members and its ability to hold the Government to account. If this battle is not fought, and won, a 350 year-old cornerstone of our democratic structure will have crumbled – and the whole edifice will have become weaker and more vulnerable as a result.