The Mandelson scandal reveals a political settlement in which democratic choice is curtailed and the power of markets eclipses the will of voters – only the left can challenge this, writes JON TRICKETT MP
EVERYBODY is happier seeing Labour being much more muscular than usual when challenging Tory attempts to tear up anti-corruption rules to protect Owen Paterson and give more Tory MPs the chance to take £100,000 salaries to moonlight as corporate lobbyists.
Actually opposing the Tories on a popular point of principle might even help Labour recover in the polls. But there is one weakness.
Labour’s 2019 manifesto policy was simple and firm: “We will stop MPs from taking paid second jobs.” This would stop Paterson-style corruption in its tracks. It’s easily understood: MPs should not be moonlighting for corporations, they should work for their voters — not for their £100,000 employers on the side.
SOLOMON HUGHES asks whether Labour ‘engaging with decision-makers’ with scandalous records of fleecing the public is really in our interests



