DK on Carswell

An important speech by Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP for Somewhereorother, is covered by DK (without swearing once!).

Once upon a time there was genuine scrutiny. Indeed, as some people may know, a war was once fought over the extent to which the House was able to vote to approve supply and Government moneys. However, this House has slowly but definitely lost its power to oversee how the Executive spend our money. The quango state, on which the PAC produces so many of its reports, is in effect beyond budgetary scrutiny. Retrospective audit on the PAC is pretty much all that is left.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[Devil's Kitchen]

Carswell is one of the good guys – apart from anything else, he has a genuine loathing for the whole Westminster culture which I find most refreshing.

My favourite Carswell moment? He hailed me at the Convention for Modern Liberty a couple of weeks ago...

DK: "Hello, Master Carswell. How's it going?"

DC [for it is he]: "Excellent, excellent! I've been talking about libertarianism and thoroughly annoying Lefties – it's brilliant."

I like Carswell: sensible chap...

DK

[Devil's Kitchen]

P.S. He also felt unable to pass a view on fakecharities.org (hem hem) but felt that it was most definitely worth pursuing...

[Bishop Hill]

Yes, I've read some of his stuff before. He seems kosher, but just seems to have fallen in with a rough crowd.

[Kit]

"Once upon a time there was genuine scrutiny"

You have to go back a long time. Hayek, in the Road to Serfdom, talks about the same problem in 1930s.
"The delegation of a particular technical task to separate bodies...is yet only the first step in the process whereby a democracy which embarks on planning progressively relinquishes its powers."