The Guardian view on Labour’s Commons reforms: too cautious and too piecemeal | Editorial

The new government is right to want to restore trust in politics, but its lobbying curbs on MPs do not go far enough

In his first speech to the new parliament, Sir Keir Starmer told MPs: “The fight for trust is the battle that defines our political era.” It was a powerful call to attention. It was also wholly justified. Trust in politics, parliament and government has long been in decline, but slumped to new depths in the last parliament. Without decisive remedial action, the credibility of our democratic system remains at risk. Politics must clean up its act.

Labour has come to power promising changes and using ambitious rhetoric. The manifesto called for “a reset in our public life, a clean-up that ensures the highest standards of integrity and honesty”. It offered the pledge that “Labour will restore confidence in government”. Last week’s king’s speech contained some more detailed commitments. These included an element of House of Lords reform, a duty of candour requirement for public officials, tightened rules on lobbying by MPs and modernisation of parliamentary procedure.