A CROSS party group has set out proposals to give voters stronger powers to sack their MP than those outlined by the Government amid fears the public will feel "duped" by the current planned new laws.
Coalition recall plans "fall scandalously short" because parliament will still decide which MPs face being fired in most cases, critics warn. A committee of 21 MPs from seven parties, including former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell and former Liberal Democrat health minister Paul Burstow, has published a draft bill that it claims will give the public tougher powers.
Conservative Zac Goldsmith, a long time campaigner on recall, dismissed the Government's bill, claiming it would not have helped voters kick out their MP in any recent parliamentary scandal: "Recall is supposed to be about empowering voters to hold their MPs to account, and the Government's proposals fall scandalously short. They don't empower voters in any meaningful sense at all, and at the very first scandal, they will realise they have been duped. "
Calls to crackdown on errant MPs followed the case of Scots MP Eric Joyce who was fined in 2012 following a brawl at Westminster.
In March, the former Labour MP was fined £1,500 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting abusive behaviour at the city's airport.
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