Thank you Mrs. Brampton.
‘Thank you all for your contributions to this debate. In common with our tradition I would now invite a show of hands to indicate an overall acceptance or denial of Mrs. Brampton’s proposal.
All ayes for the proposal. Thank you, the proposal clearly meets with approval. I now invite Mrs. Brampton to work up her outline proposal into bill form for presentation to the house for further approval. Sitting members will know the process already, but I would like to remind new members that if they have a special interest in any proposal they are at liberty to approach the proposer and join him or her in its development. However, this should only be done after informing your constituency of your support for a particular proposal. Opposition to any proposal can also be organised in the same way. In this way, when any proposed bill arrives back in the house for final debate we can be sure that both pro and anti arguments are properly organised and represented.’
The Speaker went on to introduce the next debate. A proposal to re-address one of the stalled infrastructure developments of the old Parliament, introduced by the member for Estuary North, representing the ribbon development of towns in South Essex. His proposal was to spend almost half of the available money in one enormous reorganisation of airports and associated infrastructure in the London area in favour of a new development in the Thames Estuary. The mood of the house was resolutely opposed to spending such a large sum on just one project but there were enough MPs from that region who wanted a say to ensure the debate would run on for some time.
It was only bought to a halt with the intervention of the Chancellor to remind the house that the expenditure plans would almost certainly be part of a referendum seeking broad approval before being passed into law. This would almost certainly preclude any single plan that would benefit one region at the cost of removing a development opportunity that could benefit many. In his opinion only those plans that addressed the general development of the nation should be considered.
During the day’s debate Guy Simmonds, Amelia St. Beuve and others of that induction group had been sitting together on the old green-leather benches of the chamber. They’d been joined by Henry Halliday, the sitting MP for Argyll and Bute. Henry had spent most of the previous week with the group helping them through the induction process and now knew them all quite well. Henry’s hand had been almost continually raised during the Brampton debate but he had not managed to catch the Speakers eye. However, when it became obvious that the proposal was meeting with approval he had visibly relaxed and now radiated an aura of contentment. It was now quite late in the day and time to think about knocking off for the day.
‘Right you lot. How about a celebratory glass of wine down on the terrace. This has been a great day, even though you may not realise it yet.’
‘Why is it such a great day Henry?’ quizzed Julie Smyth, MP for Winchester and a General Practitioner in that city.
‘Firstly, because this is the first time since the Modern Parliament came into being that we have been given a free hand to come up with new progressive policies that stand a chance of being funded and, secondly, because Mrs. Brampton’s proposal is such a brilliant idea. For me it really hits the spot. My constituency is part of the West Coast of Scotland and has been hugely effected by all the issues that Mrs. Brampton raised in her speech and in her notes. I suppose, because this is your first experience in the chamber, you must think it’s always like that, but it’s not. Usually we’re trawling through a minefield of small adjustments to existing policies. Fine tuning. Important, of course, and things which make a real difference to individuals but, today, it’s like being a thoroughbred horse that’s spent it’s life in a farmyard and has just been shown the field.’
‘Do you really think it stands a chance then?’
This was the first time anybody had known Archie Turnbull, MP for Solihull but once a shop assistant, to volunteer a question. Like many of them it was taking a while for him to find his feet in the company of so many.
‘Yes I do. One of the signatures of our ‘Lottery’ democracy is that it tends to select a mean average from the population. Within the six hundred MPs there are always going to be those who shine, people who’ve already had experience of decision making at a high level or who have professional knowledge that can add to a debate, those with attractive personalities or for more obscure reasons command respect. But, generally, we’re a conservative lot, with a small c, for whom change is difficult. This is usually a good thing because it makes it doubly necessary to present a policy change with care and a high level of proof for the argument. Because we’ve got nothing to gain from introducing flagship policies on a wing and a prayer to please some part of the electorate and make sure we keep our jobs, we tend to keep to the straight and narrow.
The overwhelmingly positive reaction to Mrs. Brampton’s proposal was atypical. There were only a few who questioned any part of it, and I had the sense that the rest of the house just found those interventions annoying. That makes me think that it has a really great chance, but what we all have to do now is show our support in practical ways, so that, when the bill returns, it can pass quickly into law.
‘So, how do we do that?’
‘Well, Imogen, it’s already clear from your question in the debate that you should be one of the contributors to the proposal at committee level, particularly with your degree in Ecology. What you need to do is run down the corridor to whatever committee room Mrs. Brampton has purloined and have a chat with her. The same applies to anyone else who feels strongly enough about the proposition.
Just to take a straw poll around the table, how many of you support the plan?
Including Henry Halliday there were eleven of them and all but two raised a hand. The dissenters were Indra Chowdary, Portsmouth, and Caroline Goubault, Swaledale.
‘Can I ask Indra and Caroline why you wouldn’t support the proposal?’.
Indra was the first to answer.
‘It’s not that I’ve got anything against it, it’s just that, as I understand it, we’ve got several more days of debate to consider any number of other ideas. Some of those ideas may relate to places like Portsmouth. We don’t have a lot of country estates in my neck of the woods, but we do have a lot of other problems.’ At the end of the day I will probably vote for it, if my constituency wants me to, but we’ll have to wait and see.’
‘Caroline,’
It goes against the grain. I don’t have a problem with landowners, I’d like to be one myself, and I think that once you start picking away at them it won’t stop until the whole thing has been wrecked. I work in a shop. I don’t have to, but I enjoy it and it keeps me in touch with my community. My husband is the manager for the Overhill Estate, so I guess I’ve got an interest in this. I think there is probably plenty of other land that could be used before you start having a go at private landowners. Also, I’ve kept my maiden name, Goubault, even though I’m married, to remind myself of my French heritage. The Goubault de Brugiere family were aristocracy before the revolution, and we know what it is like to lose everything.
‘Wow,’
‘Well it looks as though Caroline will be joining the opposition and Indra is a floating voter but how about the rest of us signing up to support this plan.’ Asked John Parker.
‘I’d really like to play a role. We’ve got lots of estates
