A BRIEF comment made last Tuesday in the House of Commons resonated with words from the grandfather of the man concerned.

Sir Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex) did not speak in a way that will become as famous as speeches by Winston Churchill but when he stated: “One of the great glories of this sadly now diminished country was our electoral and democratic system... if we are to retain the integrity and the trust of the voting public, the whole damn thing needs to be blown up and started all over again.”

His words raised the bar for the debate and should have brought a meaningful challenge to the Government.

Sadly the prospect of them being listened to by Theresa May and her colleagues is negligible, but they lay down a vital marker. Although Sir Nicholas was referring to Brexit when he used the phrase blown up, in many senses the words carry on far further into the way in which Parliament behaves.

Sir Nicholas also challenged the Government’s desire to close Parliament last week and although the closure this week is scheduled, many of us would argue that giving MPs a long break is hard to justify when there are so many important issues for them to resolve.

That said, the opportunity for discussions to take place about how our electoral and democratic system could be improved is perhaps easier to achieve when the Palace of Westminster is closed for urgent repairs.

Last week provided events that make the words from Sir Nicholas very pertinent. The chaos caused by the Tory chief whip and Brandon Lewis MP who together tore up a formal agreement with Jo Swinson MP who is on maternity leave to pair their votes is a good place to start.

The vote concerned should like the referendum itself be overturned as a result of electoral policies being broken.

However, it is now clearly time for the way in which MPs act if they are pregnant or sick or on important business commitments to change.

The whole purpose of recording how MPs vote is intended for their constituents to be able to challenge them if they feel poorly represented.

This accountability is lost the moment a pairing agreement takes place.

It is vital that pairing is ended and some form of proxy voting introduced so that when an MP wants to take part in a vote, that their decision is recorded.

The same is true if the MP chooses to abstain. This is like voting for “none of the above” which is also needed in our elections so we too can make our views known even if we don’t support any of the candidates.

If an MP cannot be bothered to show up then their lack of a vote is of course also measured whereas at the moment their lack of a vote could be an abstention or the result of pairing, and their constituents will never know.

Along with reforming how MPs vote, their attendance at debates should also be measured in some way.

It is always disappointing to see images of a debate that consists of a handful of MP when hundreds of them turn up to vote at the end.

This behaviour is why the words of Sir Nicholas make so much sense. If an MP is sitting at their desk or even in a Westminster bar, then their vote is incapable of being influenced by the debate.

It is vital that a different way of operating is found.

Along with the need to reform how pairing and votes in the Commons and Lords take place, the fact that so many senior Government ministers or ex-ministers were connected in a meaningful way with a group of organisations that are guilty of electoral fraud through the referendum campaign surely demands that they are held to account in a way that is clear and uncomplicated.

The rule breaking by Vote Leave and Be Leave needs to be addressed by Ministers such as Gove, Fox, Raab and Grayling along with ex-ministers such as Priti Patel, Iain Duncan Smith and Boris Johnson in a way that ensures that such behaviour is not repeated. The mention of Johnson also raises the fact that he is currently breaking a Parliamentary rule by writing his new column in the Daily Telegraph without consent from the relevant Parliamentary body. Yet there is no evidence that he is being held accountable for this action either.

As Amber Rudd (Hastings) stated on the same day as the words from Sir Nicholas: “The protection of the valid confidence that the public need to have in our elections every time is absolutely vital.” No doubt she would extend this to the confidence we need in our representatives too.