Daniel Greenberg was appointed to his new position in January. Credit: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph
Members of Parliament's behavior on social media appears to be «endemic» undermining public confidence and could encourage voters to leave the mainstream parties, House of Commons standards chief warned.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, said House members of the public were concerned about «the tone and language» used by MPs on sites such as Twitter.
Although Mr. Greenberg declined to comment on individual cases, he recently investigated John Nicholson, an SNP MP, for liking tweets describing Nadine Dorries, the former culture minister, as a «grotesque» and «nonsensical thug.»
Dorris herself was one of many MPs involved in Twitter brawls, including during last year's Conservative leadership contest, when she made fun of Rishi Sunak's expensive clothes, with her colleague responding, «FFS [yes, damn it] ] Nadine!”
Mr Greenberg, who was a senior parliamentary lawyer before taking up his current position earlier this year, warned MPs should set themselves «the same exacting standards» online as they are in the Commons.
He said MPs are bound by the 28-year-old Nolan's «Principles of Public Life» which include a duty to exercise «leadership» whether they speak in Parliament or use other platforms such as social media. .
In his annual report, he dedicated an appendix stating his concern about the growing volume of public complaints sent to his office about the behavior of MPs on the Internet.
He also raised the issue of complaints from voters about the refusal of MPs to participate in elections. receive correspondence from their constituents by mail or electronically.
Not everyone uses email
“The vast majority of MPs are doing everything they can to ensure their constituents are accessible,” he said. But he added that MPs need to “think, in particular, about not assuming that everyone has access to electronic means of communication, which not everyone has, or assuming the opposite, that people will be able to write letters. Because for a huge proportion of public letters, writing letters is a thing of the past.”
In an interview, Mr. Greenberg, an Orthodox Jew, also talked about how his parliamentary work has affected his faith, adding that «all religious institutions can learn a lot from watching Nolan's standards work.»
Addressing concerns about social media behavior, Mr. Greenberg said he wants to «support House members in thinking about the need to consider the tone and language they use on social media and other forms outside of the House.»
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He added: “Let me be clear: it is not for me to tell them what they should or should not do. But the rules that appointed me give me a role that goes beyond just investigating, they give me a role of advising, supporting and helping the House of Representatives as a whole to address these standards issues comprehensively.
“ Members of the public expressed to me concerns about the tone and language of the members… This is one of the things I get the most complaints about, it's a recurring theme.
“I think it's important for members to be informed about this so they can make their own judgment. I think a lot of participants understand this, a lot of participants use social media either very limited or very, very cautious, and they are very careful about their language. Some participants prefer to be more careful than others. And the report is meant to help them possibly assess the impact of the choices they have made.”
Use of social media “affects trust”
Mr Greenberg warned that politicians' social media behavior «seems to have an endemic effect on trust between members of the public and members of parliament.»
“I thought this should be brought to the attention of MPs so that they can think about the impact it has on their choice of behavior,” he said.
He added: “A lack of trust can lead to disengagement – whether it be a complete disengagement or a disengagement from the center parties, whatever it is, that is the danger.
“That's why I've tried from the beginning to put a lot of emphasis on outreach and engagement as part of my job. I can go and explain things publicly in a way that an MP may not necessarily, because it might seem self-serving.”
Mr Greenberg suggested that the public reaction to the Conservative MPs' attempt to protect Owen Paterson, a former cabinet, from being removed from office due to violations of lobbying rules, apparently led to improved behavior.
His predecessor, Katherine Stone, said the MP warned her to «be careful» in this matter.
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“I think the events of the Paterson case have given everyone an opportunity to reflect on the importance of the system to the House of Representatives as a whole and how valuable it is for the House of Representatives to have a truly independent officer backed by a fantastic team. My independence and the fact that it is respected and treated with respect is in their interest.
“Return to trust. Part of it is about showing the public that they can trust MPs in general, that they can trust the system of Chambers. And I'm an important part of that. I trust the House of Representatives because they are not MPs checking their homework.”
Religion and Law
Asked if his faith influenced how he approaches his role, Mr. Greenberg replied, “Absolutely not. And I think it's really important that it shouldn't be. It is clear that this is not a moral position. Nobody cares about my personal morality, my moral values or ethical values.”
He added: “What I found is quite the opposite. I have found that in fact my role in the public service over the years — I have worked in and around Parliament for 35 years — I have found that my participation in public life deepens and enriches my personal understanding of things.
< p>“I would say that my understanding of the rule of law and how it works has influenced my approach to religion, both institutionalized and personal religion.
“Therefore, I think I have a lot to gain, especially on this job, from being able to observe secular ethical standards while working in an institution and drawing conclusions. All religious institutions can learn a lot from watching Nolan's standards work. I think we have a lot to learn from this. So, anyway, it's the other way around.”
Mr. Greenberg said the old religions were «very radical in the idea of human values» and concepts such as «love your neighbor as yourself» are now «quite radical.» international norms.”
But he added: “Where will you go next? How are you going to keep adding value?”
Referring to the recently adopted Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament, he suggested that religions can take into account “specialities, for example, the Code of Conduct says: “Treat people with care, treat people with respect.”
“I was talking about in front of members of parliament. Council of Christians and Jews. everything went very badly. I think they expected the standard answer «yes», of course, religion contributes to social life, and I said «no», I don't think it's really true, I think it's the opposite.
Between Meanwhile, with some MPs saying they face complaints of bad behavior simply because they expect their employees to meet tough standards, Mr Greenberg insisted: “I don’t see any way that the Code of Conduct could prevent MP to work effectively with his staff.” staff, making the most of your staff and managing a rigorous, efficient and efficient office.
On the contrary, I actually think the reason these codes are now completely universal is because people think you get the most out of your employees if you treat them with respect.” .
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