Are The Whips The Death OF British Democracy?
Both yes and no in certain regards. Yes, because it stops MPs truly representing their own constituencies in certain respects – however, it is always open to the MP to disregard the whip! But a brave MP it is who does that in the face of a three line whip on an important vote. For example, certain policies may, although supported by the party, have negative side effects for specific constituencies. In such a case, an MP would vote against if truly representing his constituency, however may under the present system vote against their constituency interests, or personal views etc in following the whip. However, the counter-argument may run that when people vote for their MP, a great proportion do it not on the basis of the candidate themselves, but the party which they represent. As such, it can be argued that they must accept party policy as a whole, especially if it was a policy which was in the manifesto and therefore electorally mandated. Further, MPs should not bite the hand that fe
