Policy Research Media Morhamburn

It strikes me that there are a couple of important, issues to emerge from the Stage 3 debate on the Alcohol Bill that are not related to alcohol.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the actual Bill and of minimum alcohol pricing, the debates have thrown-up some issues that we should all consider.

Firstly, given the impassioned pleas of a group of learned experts such as the BMA, might it not be an idea for recognised groups of experts to be allowed to have a greater input into legislation that looks at their specialist areas of expertise, such as health or around specific technologies?

Would such a move, possibly in the form of some kind of grand committee (which could act as a de-facto second chamber or advisory board) strengthen the scrutiny process that parliament puts Bills though, or would it undermine the democratic process and the people’s representation?

The second question which arises is that of the system of whips at Holyrood. What does the fact that we have yet to see any significant ‘backbench rebellion’ at Holyrood in its entire existence tell us about the system we currently have?

Given that the UK coalition government is facing its first significant backbench unrest after only a few months of its tenure, do we need to address this at Holyrood? Do we need to weaken the strength of the parties, or perhaps encourage greater cross-party working so that sides don’t become so entrenched in the first place?  Or is fierce backbench loyalty just a natural result of having a list system? 

I don’t know who is right or wrong in this particular debate, and with regard the questions I have posed, it doesn’t much matter. The parliamentary system we have has rightly been lauded as innovative, modern and transparent. But we shouldn’t let those virtues get in the way of further improvements if they are needed.

[The views expressed by Morhamburn people in their blogs are theirs and theirs alone. they do not represent the thoughts of the company as a whole or our clients. If you have a comment to make on any blog, please email info@morhamburn.com and we’ll put the printable ones up on the website]