The party leaders aren't helping anyone |

Wednesday 14th October 2009 | 15:49

The party leaders aren't helping anyone

Insiders believe Brown, Cameron and Clegg have overestimated the opportunity for political gain through competitive toughness with their MPs

A majority of political insiders believe that Brown, Cameron and Clegg are making a misjudgement over the best way to react to the second wave of the expenses scandal.

A majority of the panel – comprised of journalists, party strategists, think tank leaders and Parliamentarians – agreed with the statement that 'the party leaders are making the same mistake they made at the start of this scandal, trying to outdo each other by being tough on their MPs. There is no political advantage here - just erosion of faith in their leadships and in Parliament."

By making it a party political competition of who can be tougher on their own MPs, so the argument goes, they leave MPs from all parties, and therefore Parliament as a whole, bruised, demoralised and defenceless.

60% agreed with this assessment, whereas 40% disagreed. Three-quarters of left-aligned insiders agreed, but a majority of right-aligned insiders disagreed.

One Liberal Democrat MP strongly believes they are behaving irresponsibly. “They should all shut up, last time they interfered was a disaster – and Legg was their idea!”, he said.

A think tank leader agreed that the leaders were performing poorly, adding “We need to move the debate away from the conduct of politicians to what politics can offer us positively, in a time of economic crisis.”

Nevertheless, there was robust defence of the leader’s stance from some. An independent political journalist said they were right to be tough, "to try and restore public faith in politics”, whilst another said, “Public mood is 'string them up' - that's where a smart party leader would be.”

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The party leaders aren't helping anyone

Insiders believe Brown, Cameron and Clegg have overestimated the opportunity for political gain through competitive toughness with their MPs

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