Rebuilding trust in politics

Following on from the latest revelations about MP's expenses, David Cameron has given a speech announcing a number of new proposals to rebuild trust in politics.

"Anger at the expenses scandal is just the most forceful expression of a deep frustration people feel with our whole political system", he said. 

Amongst the proposals he announced were:

• A new Parliamentary Privilege Act to clarify the rules of parliamentary privilege to make clear that they cannot be used by MPs to evade justice.
• Increasing transparency in lobbying by ensuring that ex-ministers are not allowed to use their contacts and knowledge, gained while being paid by the public to serve the public, for their own private gain.

Cameron said these plans were not timid, by necessity. "Half measures cannot hope to fix what is wrong with our politics. So the reforms I’ve set out are born from radical ambitions to restore pride in our Parliament, return our democracy to full health, and to redistribute power".

Watch the full speech here

Read the full speech here