You might remember that a few weeks ago I blogged about the 38 Degrees campaign to stop the Digital Economy Bill being rushed through Parliament. A number of people got in touch to tell me about emails and letters they received from their MPs in response to their concerns about the Bill.
Three weeks on and the Bill is currently being given its second hearing in the Commons, the last step before the “Wash Up” period which could see it fast-tracked into law as the parties cut last-minute deals with each other before the General Election. This was the scene in parliament about half an hour ago:
Note that there are only sixteen MPs in the chamber. From a total of 646. That’s less than 2.5% of our elected representatives who bothered to turn out to debate one of the most important pieces of legislation in many years, one that is vital to Britain’s Digital future. You don’t need me to tell you how wrong that is.
Then there’s the fact that the Digital Economy Bill was scheduled for a debate on a day when it was extremely likely that an election would be called and Parliament dissolved. This is exactly what happened today, and the media’s attention has been captivated by the first volleys in the electoral mudslinging contest. Even the usually reliable Guardian have failed to liveblog the DE debate. Perhaps I’m overly cynical but as Jo Moore once infamously said, “Today is a good day to bury bad news“.
We’ve also been subjected to MPs exposing their ignorance of the core issues of the DE Bill debate. From Austin Mitchell calling heavy internet users and technical types ‘geeks’ and ‘nerds’ to Simon Sion’s utterly bizarre Star Wars metaphor, where illegal downloaders are Luke Skywalker and Peter Mandelson is Darth Vader, it is abundantly clear that the government needs to bring in experts from across the full range of digital professions – and not just music industry representatives - to hammer out a measured, forward-thinking Bill rather than a legislative knee-jerk.
I’m disappointed, if not entirely surprised, that my own MP, Mark Lazarowicz of Labour for Edinburgh North and Leith, isn’t one of those in the chamber today. Mark responded to my concerns about the DE Bill back in March, reassuring me that the possibility of it being taken into the Wash Up period was extremely low and that nothing undemocratic would be allowed to happen. I was initially impressed at both the swiftness and apparent sincerity of his replies but believe that if he considered this a genuinely important issue, he would be in the House of Commons today, opposing this Bill. I’m afraid that will be one less vote for you Mr Lazarowicz, and for Labour too.
Update – 6 April 2010, 9pm
Two hours later and we’re down to a paltry ten MPs left in the House of Commons debating. Most of those remaining are Labour MPs, many of whom are speaking out against the Digital Economy Bill. Is there any chance of a backbench revolt over this?
Update – 6 April 2010, 10.30pm
Shortly before 10pm, a large group of MPs rushed into the House of Commons to vote on the Bill, despite not taking part in the debate whatsoever. The DE Bill passed the second reading and will now go on to the third reading and committee stage tomorrow. How very disappointing.
It’s really shocking that only 16 MPs turned up for such an important bill! I wonder who made up the 16?
Unfortunately there isn’t a list available at the moment. I’ll amend the post with names if one should materialise.
Frankly I find that disgusting, and you can bet any amount of good money that the Labour MP I wrote to in regards to this issue never bothered to turn out for it either.
What’s worse is that the debate is still going on and it’s now down to just 10 MPs left in the chamber. This is really, really terrible and not the way democracy should be conducted.
Second readings tend to be formalities. Much of the legislative work is (or in this case, should) be done “behind the scenes”. Debates in the House of Commons may visualize democracy, but are not terribly important in the grand scheme of things. Much the same as the process appears personal, but essentially isn’t. And just as you might expect technical expertise to be involved, but in practice the dominant expertise involve is administrative.
But on the wider “wash-up” process, and the abysmal state of the proposed legislation, well, that’s more of a problem…
For those wondering if their MPs attended the debate last night, The Guardian have produced a handy web app allowing you to check.
http://www.didmympshowupornot.com/lookup
My own MP is marked absent though he himself claims that he was present for some of the debate and watched most of the rest on television.
@Tim: That’s quite interesting but still, it’s a shame that this ‘formality’ stage was enough to take the Bill through to a final vote.
As to your comments on the wider wash-up process, well… quite.