Interesting article from ultra-loyalist Labour MP, Wayne David in this morning’s Western Mail in which he argues that David Cameron’s scheme to reduce the number of MPs could leave Wales seriously under-represented.
It is an interesting point and one that might have some resonance if it were not for the fact that Wales is already over-represented in comparison to England and we effectively have an additional layer of politicians in the 60 AMs who make all the important decisions here on education, health, transport and many other matters.
There is an inexorable logic in the argument that once the Assembly gets full law-making powers then we should have less MPs. That has happened in Scotland and it needs to happen here too. Wayne David’s article appears to be an attempt to head off that logic in advance. If he wants to argue to the electorate that we need more politicians than can be justified then I wish him luck. I do not think that they will buy it.
Of course Welsh representation is only a marginal part of David Cameron’s proposals. He wants to reduce the number of MPs across the board, including England and has already given assurances with regards to Wales.
The problem with Cameron’s proposals is not that they may have an impact on Wales but that they do not fo far enough in reducing the number of MPs and they effectively just tinker with the system rather than properly reforming it.
The Liberal Democrats have said that they will reduce the size of the House of Commons by 150 MPs, but that does not mean bigger constituencies. Rather it means that we will institute that reform as part of the introduction of electoral reform. So we will have 500 MPs elected by the single transferable vote in multi-member constituencies.
Such a change will mean more effective and more representative MPs. It will cut the number of politicians to a realistic level whilst building fairness into the system. It is a crucial reform and one that both David Cameron and Wayne David should get behind.
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