London diary: Quaint British parliamentary conventions

Quaint conventions

There are many quaint British parliamentary conventions and traditions that evolved in a more consensual and civilised political culture but appear outdated in today’s competitive cut-throat climate. One of them is “pairing”, an arrangement between two MPs from opposing sides to agree not to vote in a particular division, if one of them is going to be away that day. This enables an MP to be absent without affecting the result of the vote as they effectively cancel each other out. It’s an informal “gentleman’s” arrangement which they’re not officially obliged to honour but so far, the convention has been generally followed.

Last week, however, a senior ruling Tory party MP Brandon Lewis caused an outrage when he broke his “pairing” arrangement with Liberal Democrats’ Jo Swinson to vote on a crucial Brexit vote while she was away on maternity leave. Lewis has been forced to apologise claiming it was a “mistake”. But it has since emerged that he was forced to break the arrangement by the party’s chief whip because of the importance of the vote which the government could not afford to lose.

The truth is that today’s political culture is simply too brutal and demanding for such niceties to survive for too long.

Work less for more

Employers are routinely slated for exploiting their workers —making them work endlessly long hours for peanuts. But in a new experiment, companies are allowing their employees to work for four days a week for full week’s salary. This follows studies showing that flexible working is more likely to boost productivity than financial incentives.

One British company, which completed a six-week trial this week, said a shorter week made people more focused. “Ultimately, you get better results with a good work-life balance,” said the boss of British company which is trying it out.

A firm in New Zealand has claimed that the efficiency of its staff improved by 24 per cent after it introduced a four-day week. There was a “massive increase in engagement and staff satisfaction”.

On an average, British workers in the organised sector work around 37 hours a week, slightly less than the European average. Experts have for long been campaigning for shorter and flexible hours to improve community engagement and reduce stress.

In India’s unregulated market, Delhites put in more than 42 hours a week — nearly 15 per cent longer than the world average—and have the worst work-life balance. Except, of course, in Mumbai where it’s even worse.

Generational jump

Britain’s Liberal Democratic Party is planning to skip two generations to pick a thirty-something MP of Palestinian descent, Layla Moran, as its leader to replace septuagenarian Vince Cable.

Elected to parliament only last year, she’s only the first female Lib Dem MP from an ethnic minority background. Which might sound surprising given Lib Dems’ multicultural pretensions.

And, lastly, Sussex has always boasted of famous players, including Ranjitsinhji and Nawab of Pataudi—and now it can claim to have “produced” a prime minister: Imran Khan who played for it in the 1980s.

White extremism

Sensational stories about Muslim extremism have long been the staple diet of British media. While right-wing tabloids continue to harp on it (“jihad-ism” sells) the mainstream media has at last started taking note of the growing threat from far-right white nationalists, some bankrolled from abroad, mostly America.

The Sunday Times has reported on moves by white extremists and right-wing groups like the UKIP to come together to push their anti-Islam and anti-immigrant agenda. Their target: the so-called “Generation Z” aka as the millennial generation. The idea is to “catch ‘em young” when they’re more vulnerable to indoctrination.

“They’re making a concerted effort to radicalise Generation Z through the creation of a counter culture,” according to Jacob Davey of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue which tracks violent extremism and inter-communal conflict.

Funds are being raised to set up a Europe-wide foundation, “The Movement”, to lead a populist campaign around immigration and “threat” from Islam. And guess who’s behind it? Donald Trump’s former White House aide Steve Bannon. He is coordinating with senior figures on the European hard right including Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader, and its current boss Gerard Batten who took part in a rally in London where Islam was described as a “death cult”, and slogans were raised in support of the racist English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson jailed recently for contempt of court.