Keeping up standards: How Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg is trying to improve Parliament's reputation
7 min read
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg talks to Sophie Church about his mission to support MPs in upholding Parliament’s faltering reputation. Photography by John Nguyen
“Anybody who thinks they can knock this [role] out of the park should not be allowed anywhere near it.”
Daniel Greenberg, 58, has been advising Parliament on legal matters for over 35 years. From acting as legal adviser in the Lord Chancellor’s Department in 1988, to becoming Parliamentary Counsel in 1991, to being appointed Counsel for Domestic Legislation in 2016, Greenberg says he is now inching closer to retirement. However before he shelves his parliamentary legal tomes, he has taken on one last role: that of Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
“I wanted to finish my parliamentary career by supporting politicians to raise standards and to raise reputation,” says Greenberg. “One of the things that troubles me about where we are now in terms of politics, is that the reputation of politicians as a class, and the reputation of Parliament is not just low – in rule of law terms it is dangerously low. And much of that reputation is undeserved.”
Houses of Parliament (Credit: Jon Arnold Images Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)
But, with standards investigations constantly bubbling to the surface, is that reputation really so undeserved?
Greenberg says that assuming MPs’ behaviour has worsened is slightly futile. “I think what you have to do is just recognise that today, enhanced scrutiny of MPs is the norm. And that Members’ conduct is going to be looked at through a microscope.”
“Let me put it like this, there are things that would not have been grounds for disciplinary intervention 35 years ago that are today”
Inevitably, social media plays a part in bringing MPs under the microscope’s lens. “You can use a word in the heat of the moment in the Chamber say, regret it, and go and have a word. You can say, ‘I’m sorry I said that, I’ve thought better about that,’” he explains. But adds it is then, “too late on social media; they’re not interested. It’s gone. It’s a very unforgiving and a very inflexible environment”.
However Greenberg is keen to point out that social media can actually be used to restore public trust in politicians. “One of the important factors is that Members of Parliament concentrate on showing respect for each other,” he says, “because that will translate particularly in the social media age… into people perceiving that they are a class worthy of respect themselves.”
Distinguishing between a parliamentary Code of Conduct and the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) is vital to understanding how MPs are expected to behave, says Greenberg. “The Code of Conduct is holding Members to a high standard, because it is about the reputation of Parliament. They have chosen to do a job that necessarily opens itself to high levels of scrutiny, and necessarily should be judged at a very high level.”
However the ICGS intends to hold MPs to a standard of best practise that would be upheld in any workplace. “I actually don’t think members are being held to a higher standard than they would be in best practice corporate environments. Interaction with other colleagues, not bullying, not harassing – I don’t think that is or should be a higher standard,” Greenberg explains. “I think Parliament is a workplace. And the standard ‘corporate standards’ of behaviour and expectation that we operate in Parliament should reflect good best practice in a modern working environment.”
However when those standards of behaviour change, Greenberg says, MPs can struggle to adapt. “I have been in the public sector for over 35 years,” he says, “and the concept of bullying has definitely changed, no question… Let me put it like this, there are things that would not have been grounds for disciplinary intervention 35 years ago that are today.”
The ICGS has, of course, received criticism from various sectors within Parliament, particularly over the time it has taken to deliver justice. Women and Equalities Select Committee chair Caroline Nokes has even said Parliament offers “no effective measures” to tackle sexual harassment. Greenberg will not comment on individual cases, but defends the “relatively new” process, saying it is about “achieving positive and lasting cultural change in Parliament, to ensure a safe workplace environment for all who work and visit.”
Caroline Noakes (Credit: Ian Davidson / Alamy Stock Photo)
He agrees that politicians should be expected to adapt to changing expectations. “Good politicians are constantly in touch with their constituents,” he says. “They’re constantly in touch with the corporate world, with consumers. They’re constantly in touch with every kind of influence and every kind of development. They have the facilities for growing with the modern world”.
Would long-standing politicians find it harder to change?
“I would say this in terms of standards: I don’t believe there is a generational split; I think it is attitudinal,” he says. “I think politicians of all ages, whether they have been in the House for 40 years, whether they have been in the House for one year, are very capable of living up to the very inspiring values of the Nolan principles under the Code of Conduct and living up to it in a modern way. So it’s attitudinal, it’s not generational.”
Part of Greenberg’s job, as he sees it, will be to help MPs live up to high standards of behaviour. “I’m doing a lot of engagement work and outreach work to help Members to articulate this, because that can help to strengthen trust between the public and politicians as a class,” he says.
For Greenberg, impartiality is “the essence” of his role as Standards Commissioner. “I think it’s really important for Parliament’s confidence in itself that it appoints an independent person to oversee and monitor the operation of the Code of Conduct. And I think it’s very important in terms of public confidence that people see that… the House wants the system to operate effectively, and…it wants people to see that it is operating in a way that is entirely non-party political, entirely independent of party… it is just objective and impartial.”
Protester demonstrates against parliamentary sleaze (Credit: amer ghazzal / Alamy Stock Photo)
And while he cannot comment on cases of potential impartiality breaches in Parliament, he thinks that protecting our international reputation for neutrality is “absolutely critical”. “The impartiality of the public service in the broadest use of the term is fragile,” he says, “and I’ll go this far: every public servant needs to ask themselves constantly, are they behaving in a way that will maintain the reputation of the public service for impartiality?”
As perhaps would be expected, in his nine months as Standards Commissioner, Greenberg has encountered MPs who “don’t always love” the conclusions he draws. “Have there been some who don’t like decisions of mine?” he asks, “Of course there are. And it’s very important that I think carefully, learn lessons from each case and work with the team to make sure that we are being consistent, fair and effective.”
And though individual criticism does not upset him, he is conscious that decisions the standards team make can have a profound impact on MPs’ lives. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be emotionally invested in the role to some extent,” he says, “and I actually think it would be, again, a little bit worrying, if the commissioner didn’t. If you walk out of the office, at the end of the day, having made a decision that has significant career consequences for somebody – significant personal consequences for somebody – then you do need to take that home a little bit and think about it carefully. And I think that is right and proper.”
While Greenberg says he “remains nervous” about performing the role effectively, he says his “absolutely superb team” give him confidence. “We, Parliament, owes an immense debt of gratitude to the people who work in this office on a permanent basis,” he says, “and they are actually what gives me confidence day-to-day to feel I can do the job effectively.”
Despite Greenberg’s fears that trust in Parliament is eroding, he says he is hopeful for the future: “I’ve got very strong support from across the House… and I very much believe that if we concentrate on the positive, we can do a lot to build trust.”
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