Having been cleared by the parliamentary commissioner twice over false allegations, I understand the immense relief that Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind feel (Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw cleared of cash-for-access misconduct, 17 September). I also understand the utter frustration they will feel at the profound disproportionality between the mountain of hurtful news coverage at the time of the allegations and the thimbleful now they have been cleared.
That aside, I repeat what I said to the Commons standards committee some years ago – in essence, that it needs to be abolished in its current form because it is rightly perceived as being riddled with self-interest. In this day and age for the MPs and lords to be policing themselves is beyond the pale. This arcane and blatantly incestuous system is in desperate need of modernisation if we are to restore confidence to a sceptical public. Unless the chair and the majority of members of the committee are external and independent, we will never be able to give the public the confidence they deserve in the checks and balances that guard our precious democracy.
Shahid Malik
Former Labour MP for Dewsbury
