Members trapped in the lobby mire20: 00 21/03/2010, Peter Preston, comment, comment is free, conservatives, labor, expenses of members of Parliament,

Members trapped in the lobby mire20: 00 21/03/2010, Peter Preston, comment, comment is free, conservatives, labor, expenses of members of Parliament, politics, the tutor, news, UK Guardian Unlimited

It is 16 years since the cash for parliamentary questions "scandal, but the standards in public life remains inadequate

It is 16 years since The Guardian discovered cash for questions and a group of Conservative MPs to jump the pressure of demand, 16 years after biting a Sunday Times found too many "members of honor being "willing to put him in the act, 16 years since a more embattled John established the Committee on Standards in public life to our democracy to something purer, more orderly. And here we go again. Another Sting: Another bad smell.

Try to review the exercise 4/Sunday Channel Times yesterday in the warmth of the light. Not all deputies approached by a PR company forged the bait. Nobody did anything illegal. Some responses were more pathetic than dangerous. Margaret Moran - to go after the debacle of the costs - offered to call a band of "girls" for Members to promote an adequate cause. Geoff Hoon weakly confessed: "I have two kids in college, so I have to get a job."

The name on the top of this list of shit, Stephen Byers, made an ass of himself: "I'm like a rental car - at £ 5,000 per day." Maybe the Lord Adonis push things go easy on National Express, blah, more promotion - but their claims do not, filmed and recorded, before being quickly removed, should be investigated.

In a sense, revealed the details are less important than the general impression, confirmed. Sixteen years ago, it was Conservative MPs who were stuck in the mud of the lobbyists. Now is the work of parliament, former ministers and apparently sensitive to boot. What the hell is Patricia Hewitt, a former warrior of Age Concern, the former head of the National Council for Civil Liberties that became Liberty, meetings with public relations firms is, much less offer to help solve this problem or what?

Cash for Questions of 1994 was a savage blow to voters who have the unconditional estimates in Parliament. The chaos of 2009 charges of Commons and Lords lower low. Consternation drained spells continue. Drifts of political party funding in the Sargasso Sea somewhere between Unite Beach and the Cape of Good Ashcroft. Add Byers and Cooperation in total despair.

What happened to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, you ask? When, with 11 reporting more polished, made all the purity go? In fact, there is a reasonable story to tell on behalf of the committee. There will be an Electoral Commission, stricter rules on lobbyists or better level in many areas without it. You can use a checklist to ensure that expenditure schemes in the next Parliament will not live apart. You can expect anything better than the solution for self service. You can expect the prime minister made no secret of his colleagues in a jam.

But there is an unanswered question, a problem highlighted itchy smelly. Where - after all those 16 years - are those of the Commission of the seven principles of public life, the basis that Lord Nolan first carved? Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership? Ideas and ideals, not just words. And there, in its latest annual report, the Committee seems to ignore exhaustion written Sisyphus.

"Codes of Practice achieve very little unless it is supported by effective management," he says. Expanding the book of rules for dealing with each new scandal is not a sustainable approach. We must ensure that the seven principles "are rooted in the culture of our public service institutions and translated into personal values, reinforced in the daily behavior of the systems and processes."

Remember that today as Brown and Cameron are competing to offer more rules and more. Remember in the wilderness of the dubious records and not the debate Sun "How" is not a quick fix, no more than a letter from the Pope. We will not get better - unless we get better. We're not going to start believing again - unless we see something worth believing in.

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