Demands for reform
‘Today, in exclusive articles for The Independent, all three party leaders set out their visions for the future as the demand for genuine reform grows stronger’ – The Independent
‘A series of reforms to parliament are expected to be put to MPs before the summer recess after David Cameron and Nick Clegg indicated their willingness to take part in all-party talks to be convened by the justice secretary, Jack Straw.’ – Nicholas Watt, The Guardian
‘Pessimists will see this as a sign of worse to come: an unstoppable collapse in trust between the governed and the government. Optimists think differently. They believe in the power of reform, and of politics. They have known for a long time that the system is broken. They welcome the fact that the nation is, at last, looking for change. There is a chance here to build a far better constitution, and ideas for improvement abound.’ – Editorial, The Guardian
‘How is it that a voting system delivers one party massive landslides with a relatively small percentage of the vote? How can a supposedly robust democracy depend on an unelected second chamber? Why is local democracy so puny and unresponsive? The questions deserve some big answers too.’ – Steve Richards, The Independent
‘It is sometimes said that in every crisis there lies an opportunity. The political crisis brought on by MPs’ abuse of their expenses system certainly seems to be bearing that theory out. The public’s furious response to those revelations has opened the door to a root and branch reform of our political system.’ – Leader, The Independent
‘voodoo economics’
‘A series of disturbing facts have leeched out about David Cameron over the past fortnight – but they have been virtually unreported. The Tory leader has started advocating a form of economics so extreme it was derided even by the first George Bush as “voodoo economics”, and revealed he is so out of touch with ordinary people he doesn’t even know how many houses he owns. We failed for years to expose the MPs’ expenses scam. Isn’t it time for journalists to pull the news agenda out of Douglas Hogg’s moat and start exposing the facts about Cameron that will affect us even more bitterly than the stench from the Fees Office?’ – Johann Hari, The Independent
MPs under pressure over expenses
‘HM Revenue and Customs is investigating whether MPs who claimed accounting costs totalling £25,000 on expenses broke the law, the BBC understands.’ – BBC
‘Four Labour MPs accused of abusing their expenses face the prospect of being forced to step down when their cases are judged by their party’s new disciplinary panel today.’ – Michael Savage, The Independent
Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor
‘US President Barack Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the country’s Supreme Court.’ – BBC
‘Yesterday he nominated Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor grew up in poverty and now serves as a New York State appeals judge. If confirmed by the Senate, Judge Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic justice at the Supreme Court. In his choice of Judge Sotomayor to replace the retiring Justice David Souter, Mr Obama has given an early indication of his wish to make American government reflect better the nation’s cosmopolitan make-up.’ – Leader, The Times
‘The supreme court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor gave an emotional response to her nomination in the East Room of the White House yesterday. But judging by the pitched battle which awaits her in the confirmation hearing, she might be well advised to save the public display of gratitude for later. The conservative smear campaign against her has been up and running for weeks. They informed us that the first Latina woman on the bench was intellectually not up to the job; that she talked too much during hearings; that most of her rulings as a court of appeals judge had been reversed.’ – Editorial, The Guardian