Reacting to the report in this morning's Independent that the Government has dropped plans to allow voters to petition for a recall ballot if they feel their MP has let them down, Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
"If the reports are accurate, it is deeply depressing that the Coalition Government has done a U-turn on recall. Establishing the right of voters to petition for a recall ballot when they feel their MP has let them down would be a powerful accountability mechanism to keep our elected representatives on their toes.
"The measure was in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat manifestos and then enshrined in the Coalition Agreement, so its abandonment is an arrogant move which will only serve to distance the political elite even further from the voters they are supposed to be representing.
"There is a profound irony that the ditching of a commitment which would have gone a long way to restoring public confidence in the political process will only add to voters' cynicism and distrust of politicians."