View From The House - 3rd May 2001

Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury

An MP occasionally has to make difficult choices. Some are obvious to the political observer: for example, whether to support one’s Government or one’s constituents where there is a conflict. Or whether to follow the wishes of one’s local Party supporters or the more general needs of the locality. If there were a referendum tomorrow, so the pollsters tell us, Parliament would bring back hanging immediately though most MPs refuse to do this. Members of Parliament are paid to make difficult choices.

The Irish born Parliamentarian Edmund Burke famously said in Bristol where he was standing for election in 1774: “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion”. That may upset a number of electors - and it is a brave, if not foolhardy, MP who consistently ignores public opinion - but it is the duty of MPs to follow the right path rather than merely the popularist path. Incidentally, on the subject of capital punishment, I would bring it back only for the murder of police officers carrying out their duty. The rules of evidence would have to be tightened to minimise still further the possibility of an innocent being executed. Capital punishment would be available to a judge: it would not be mandatory. But with too many guns in circulation in places like Birmingham and south London, the option of capital punishment would be a deterrent, I believe.

Recently, I had to make a difficult local decision (not one of life and death, fortunately): upsetting some while pleasing others. The Army and MAFF had sited a cattle pyre near to some homes in Longdon and Armitage. Local residents were concerned about the effects of the smoke. By the time I was notified, the pyre had already been constructed. Although the ignition of the pyre was delayed, it was eventually lit. To move it could have spread the disease. However, I was able to stop more carcasses being added to the pyre and this stopped the smoke damage from being prolonged. But the local farmer on whose land the pyre was built was very upset. In some ways, I can’t blame him. To have one’s livestock slaughtered is a nightmare. He felt that the intervention of the MP wasn’t helpful - though this was put to me in far more colourful language! Well, you can’t win ‘em all. If, God forbid, there are further foot and mouth outbreaks in Staffordshire, MAFF will know better than to site pyres close to people’s homes next time.