Criminals are not barred from becoming MPs - but that's set to change

[IwantToRetire]

Parliamentary candidates could be barred from standing if they do not pass an enhanced DBS check which flags criminal records to employers, under a new plan put forward by MPs.

While many professionals working with the public such as teachers, NHS staff, and social workers are required to meet stringent safeguarding standards, MPs are not subject to the same checks, despite holding roles that routinely involve contact with vulnerable individuals. The expectation is that would-be candidates with convictions for violence or sexual offences would ring alarm bells in party headquarters before being selected. Lesser convictions could be overlooked at the party’s discretion.

“But we also need to be careful because decisions about who is appropriate to stand may be made by individuals who are not versed in the law nor understand the nuances of sentence types. This may lead to complete risk aversion to refusing to put forward any potential candidate with any form of criminal record.

“This could mean that the 12.4 million people who have criminal records but who have turned their lives around could be excluded from democracy. There is also a risk information gained from background checks could become public knowledge and potentially misused for political gain.”

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/criminals-not-barred-becoming-mps-set-change-4084469

Also can be read in full at https://archive.is/wmoGn

(Not that DBS checks are full proof.)

Another way of putting that is, we know which politicians Hope Not Hate is motivated to publish hit pieces on.

I have no time for HNH, but nothing to stop over factional groups from doing the same.

It is quite telling that given how few of them there are, that Reform wannabes are featuring in exposures.

And the Reform Councils now in chaos.

The power is not selecting who can work with children. Perpetrators self-select out by reason of abhorrent behaviour.

I agree. I don't see most criminal convictions as being a bar to becoming an MP. Fraud, offences against children, possibly murder (but not necessarily), terrorism (probably, bye bye Sinn Fein)?

It is quite telling that given how few of them there are, that Reform wannabes are featuring in exposures.

I think it's mostly telling of who is the Inner Party and who is the Outer Party.

We all know about, for instance, the Scottish Greens being riddled with perverts, but nobody seems particularly interested in looking into that story. Because, for all their wadical posturing, they're a reliable part of the cartel.

I suspect it has nothing to do with politics.

This is about tabloid journalism which actually drives UK politics.

Having built Farage / Reform up they are now entering the stage of lets see if we can pull him down.

And sadly for Greens in Scotland, tabloid journalism has little or no interest in them.

So getting all conspiratorial about what is going on is just silly.

Its bad enough that politicians are the puppets of the mass media, but would like to think those on FWR were of a more independent, feminist perspective thinking.

Sinn Fein are a legitimate political party.

Its getting harder to fathom where some contributors to FWR get their "knowledge" from.

If this was (maybe it is) the law in Russia what would Putin do?

The answer is, use the police to target any potential opposition so that they couldn't run against him.

This decision to bring this in as law in the UK is totally undemocratic. Full disclosure for all candidates maybe okay, at least they could state the circumstances and timings of their arrest/ prosecution but anything beyond that, is a terrible terrible idea.

I got mine from seeing that Sinn Fein are the largest party in the NI assembly.

What planet does yours come from ?

So getting all conspiratorial about what is going on is just silly.

Its bad enough that politicians are the puppets of the mass media, but would like to think those on FWR were of a more independent, feminist perspective thinking.

Have you met your scolding quota for the day?

Do you think the tabloid press forced Ken Livingstone to defend the serial rapist Gerry Healy for decades, even long after Healy's death?

You misunderstand. I am supporting you against the bizarre post you responded to!

Even as the circle spun, I re-read that in my head.

Many apa-loguies - feel free to roast me when I get it wrong 😀

Now you just indulging about whatabouterry.

You referenced Sinn Fein and terrorism.

Now to be fair, in the case of Sinn Fein, they have been bringing in younger candidates and the old IRA lads are gradually moving into retirement.

At least at the level of elected representatives. There's a tacit agreement not to look too hard at who actually runs Sinn Fein, and it's not the elected reps.

If, as we seem to have spun off into some strange whatabouterries rather than making constituents and HoC employees feel safe about contacting their MP, what about all those MPs who are part of previous Governments have committed illegal acts in terms of invading countries, selling arms to countries where there is a ban of this?

The story is about should potential politicians be DBS checked.

As it happens, I have interacted with quite a few elected politicians who had done time for serious offences. Most of them were members of Sinn Fein, and the rest were members of the Progressive Unionist Party.

Their backgrounds were well known. When Martina Anderson was elected to the European Parliament with 150,000 people voting for her, the fact that she'd done 13 years on explosives charges was not obscure trivia.

I realise this will seem like obscure provincial stuff compared to the question of whether Yookay parties do their due diligence on candidates.

On basic principle, if someone is entitled to vote they're entitled to stand for election. It's up to the parties to do due diligence, and up to the voters to exercise their judgement.

I do not believe that any additional qualification introduced by the current regime will be used for any purpose other than screwing over candidates who might be inconvenient to the current regime.