That's the motion Plaid and the SNP have put before Westminster today. It's due to be debated in Parliament shortly.
Here's what Plaid's leader in Westminster, Elfyn Llwyd has been saying:
"Plaid Cymru and the SNP are giving Parliament the chance to give the people back their say – and this can only be the beginning of a shake-up in the political system. We need reform of MPs' expenses, the first-past-the-post system, a fully elected House of Lords, a fixed term Parliament, and in Wales, a referendum on full law-making powers."
But will the big man be there? Mr Llwyd's not too sure:
"With such an important debate, I would presume that the Prime Minister would be in attendance, especially given the current amount of interest in Parliament and from the media.
"However, unfortunately the Prime Minister has a record of not being around when the going gets tough - and tomorrow may be no different."
Plaid promise us, "this debate will be a reflection of the extent of concern currently surrounding the state of Parliament as expressed by the public. " Not sure we should be expecting egg-throwing but it should be quite exciting!
We'll keep you up to date here on Politics Cymru and on Twitter.
*Update :15:25
In response to Gordon Brown's statement this morning, Mr Llwyd said:
"The proposed reforms are overdue but at least this is a start and I’m pleased that the impetus is now there to get things moving. We will repeat calls this afternoon for the dissolution of Parliament and a General Election. Reforms need to be implemented but through an inclusive and wider discussion process. "
The Prime Minister announced this morning that a referendum to change the voting system could take place - but only after the next General Election. He also told MPs a debate on legislation regarding MPs' code of conduct in light of recent revelations would also happen.
"Plaid have emphasised the need for a referendum to give the public a say on important democratic issues including: the present voting system, the power of the Whips, the Royal prerogative and calling for a fixed term parliament," said Mr Llwyd.
"Real electoral and expenses reform at Westminster is long overdue, but by addressing these measures we can begin to rebuild the public’s trust," he added.
Predictably the Plaid MP for Dwyfor and Meirionydd has also pre-empted a defeat in the Commons tonight when the Plaid/SNP motion is due to be voted upon:
"Even if we lose the vote tonight, we will have sparked a debate about the wider constitutional issues as Mr Brown has already demonstrated," said Mr Llwyd.
Dewi Dau
1 comment:
Interesting to see that the BBC has not given any coverage to this story on their news pages.
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