So Sir Alan is in the frame to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons. We’re talking Tory grandee Sir Alan Haselhurst and not the the star of The Apprentice, of course, but ‘the other Sir Alan’ is keen to make debates more accessible by using modern technology.
Ten MPs are vying for the role of Speaker in a vote today (voting is ongoing as I type) and Sir Alan Haselhurst is proposing that the public should be allowed to email ideas for debates: ‘the speaker should have more power over what is debated, while being informed and pressured by the public,’ he says.
This is a worthwhile attempt to get the public more in tune with public thinking and could even lead to people taking part on debates online. It may not be enough to get him elected however as ‘big guns’ Margaret Beckett, Anne Widdecombe and John Bercow are ahead of Sir Alan in the betting. When it comes to proposing innovative uses of technology however, I’m hoping that Sir Alan hears the words, ‘you’re hired’.
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