Jennifer Nadel - Evidence in Review
“The Mother of all Parliaments has birthed two more functional ones”
On 14 June 2022 the Commission met to hear evidence from Jennifer Nadel. Jennifer Nadel is a qualified barrister and writer who founded Compassion in Politics in 2018, with the aim of bringing compassion back into our political space which for too long has evaded it. Compassion in Politics is working to address the lack of trust in democracy and the trampling over codes of conduct that had historically been observed.
Jennifer Nadel said that UK democracy appears to be on a conflict-based and a war footing, encouraged by the confrontational style of Parliament which rewards quick thought over rational debate. The confrontational debating, particularly in the Commons, was bringing politics into disrepute.
The Commission heard figures from polls initiated by Compassion in Politics that suggest 73% of the public would support making it compulsory for ministers to correct the record if they have made incorrect representations, with sanctions deployed if they fail to do so. Jennifer Nadel highlighted that whilst Ministers can correct the record in Hansard, backbenchers cannot. Another poll found that only 11% think the current whipping system is a good thing, and that 43% believe the current tenor of debate in Parliament decreases their respect for it.
Commissioners discussed with Jennifer Nadel the best options for addressing these issues. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd were identified as examples of chambers which are set up to encourage a better tone and style of debate, contending that “the mother of all Parliaments has birthed two more functional ones.” The gladiatorial character of Westminster should be changed to make its politics less of a popularity contest and more professional. To change the manner of debate completely would be a symbolic change that could signal Parliament is serious about addressing the toxicity and division in society. To see the chambers of Parliament relocated and redesigned to do away with the confrontational geography would be the most radical of these signals.
The Commission heard of the plans of Compassion in Politics to push for an independent body to employ MPs’ staff whilst still giving individual MPs the power to choose their own staff as an achievable proposal to combat bullying behaviour in Westminster and professionalise employment practices. Jennifer Nadel recommended that the Acas definition of bullying adopted by workplaces should also apply in Parliament. The premise should be “if you can’t do it in a normal workplace, you can’t do it in politics.”
Compassion and resilience training should be included as part of compulsory training for all MPs, who are expected to be legislators, committee experts and constituency representatives. Furthermore, Compassion in Politics would like to see Ministers, when first appointed, do one or two weeks of 'work experience' on the front line of the sector they are to be in charge of. Those in the Department of Health, for example, might spend a week assisting nurses in A&E, or working in a mental health ward. A body set up to monitor accuracy of advertising materials during political campaigns was proposed to hold politicians to account for their claims.
The Commissioners finally debated the best route to achieving the cultural change that all agreed was necessary for a better political space. The Commission will be working with politicians and political leaders to discuss these ideas and issues.