By . Tom Mctague, Mail Online Deputy Political Editor . Government plans to allow voters to sack their MPs were today dismissed as 'worse than meaningless'. The long-awaited bill to allow MPs to be 'recalled' by constituents was announced in the Queen's Speech. It will give constituents the opportunity to sign a petition demanding a by-election if an MP is jailed - or if the House of Commons 'resolves that an MP should face a recall petition'. Deputy Prime Minister, walking with Labour's shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman in Parliament today, has watered down proposals to give voters the power to sack MPs . But the proposals were slammed by Tory backbencher Zac Goldsmith, who said MPs should not have a role in deciding whether or not they should face a petition to be sacked. He said: 'Recall is about empowering people to hold their MPs to account at all times, that's all it is. 'It's a very simple mechanism that happens all over the world. What this bill will do is that it gives that power to a committee of parliamentarians, of MPs - the same committee, by the way, that got into trouble over Maria Miller.' Mr Goldsmith warned that the measures would leave voters with 'no more power after this bill goes through than they do today', and predicted an 'immense' backlash. He added: 'It's worse than meaningless, it's a pretense, and voters will know it's a pretense at the very first scandal.' He insisted he was still 'pleased' that there will be a recall bill going through Parliament. Tory MP Zac Goldsmith has led a campaign to introduce the power of recall. He wants voters to be given the power to spark a by-election if they want to get rid of their member of Parliament . But he added: 'The criteria are so narrow that it's virtually meaningless, it would be impossible to recall anyone. 'So the danger of this - and it really is a danger, particularly on the back of this huge Ukip vote we saw last week - is that people will discover at the very first scandal that they have been duped, that they have no more power after this bill goes through than they do today, and I think the backlash will be immense. Former Labour MP Denis MacShane was jailed for six months last year after he was caught fiddling his expenses by more than £12,000 . 'It's worse than meaningless, it's a pretense, and voters will know it's a pretense at the very first scandal... that's the politest word I can possibly think of, it's a pretense, that's what it is.' The Taxpayers’ Alliance meanwhile said it was an 'embarrassingly weak' proposal. The group's chief executive Jonathan Isaby said: "This stitch-up will do nothing to restore the trust of voters in politics. It will centralise more power in Westminster, rather than handing it to voters.' Alexandra Runswick, Director of Unlock Democracy, added: 'These recall proposals are symbolic of the government’s attitude to democratic reform. 'They say they want to give power back to the people but never quite manage to manage to follow through. The power to recall an elected representative between elections is an essential mechanism for democratic accountability. 'Recall enjoyed cross-party support and featured in every party manifesto. Why are the government afraid of giving voters their say? 'Genuine recall empowers voters not parliamentary committees. At the moment when there is a scandal political parties can have a say, they can withdraw the whip from the MP, Parliament can have a say through the Standards Committee but voters are left out in the cold. 'The government’s watered down version of recall risks creating the illusion that people will have a say in recalling their elected representative while ensuring that this will probably never happen in practice. There is a real danger that this could alienate people from politics and politicians even further.'
Watered-down 'right to recall' included in the Queen's speech today .
Constituents can demand by-election but only if Commons agrees it is fair .
Tory MPs attack the proposal as a con which will only anger the public .
By . Tom Mctague, Mail Online Deputy Political Editor . Government plans to allow voters to sack their MPs were today dismissed as 'worse than meaningless'. The long-awaited bill to allow MPs to be 'recalled' by constituents was announced in the Queen's Speech. It will give constituents the opportunity to sign a petition demanding a by-election if an MP is jailed - or if the House of Commons 'resolves that an MP should face a recall petition'. Deputy Prime Minister, walking with Labour's shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman in Parliament today, has watered down proposals to give voters the power to sack MPs . But the proposals were slammed by Tory backbencher Zac Goldsmith, who said MPs should not have a role in deciding whether or not they should face a petition to be sacked. He said: 'Recall is about empowering people to hold their MPs to account at all times, that's all it is. 'It's a very simple mechanism that happens all over the world. What this bill will do is that it gives that power to a committee of parliamentarians, of MPs - the same committee, by the way, that got into trouble over Maria Miller.' Mr Goldsmith warned that the measures would leave voters with 'no more power after this bill goes through than they do today', and predicted an 'immense' backlash. He added: 'It's worse than meaningless, it's a pretense, and voters will know it's a pretense at the very first scandal.' He insisted he was still 'pleased' that there will be a recall bill going through Parliament. Tory MP Zac Goldsmith has led a campaign to introduce the power of recall. He wants voters to be given the power to spark a by-election if they want to get rid of their member of Parliament . But he added: 'The criteria are so narrow that it's virtually meaningless, it would be impossible to recall anyone. 'So the danger of this - and it really is a danger, particularly on the back of this huge Ukip vote we saw last week - is that people will discover at the very first scandal that they have been duped, that they have no more power after this bill goes through than they do today, and I think the backlash will be immense. Former Labour MP Denis MacShane was jailed for six months last year after he was caught fiddling his expenses by more than £12,000 . 'It's worse than meaningless, it's a pretense, and voters will know it's a pretense at the very first scandal... that's the politest word I can possibly think of, it's a pretense, that's what it is.' The Taxpayers’ Alliance meanwhile said it was an 'embarrassingly weak' proposal. The group's chief executive Jonathan Isaby said: "This stitch-up will do nothing to restore the trust of voters in politics. It will centralise more power in Westminster, rather than handing it to voters.' Alexandra Runswick, Director of Unlock Democracy, added: 'These recall proposals are symbolic of the government’s attitude to democratic reform. 'They say they want to give power back to the people but never quite manage to manage to follow through. The power to recall an elected representative between elections is an essential mechanism for democratic accountability. 'Recall enjoyed cross-party support and featured in every party manifesto. Why are the government afraid of giving voters their say? 'Genuine recall empowers voters not parliamentary committees. At the moment when there is a scandal political parties can have a say, they can withdraw the whip from the MP, Parliament can have a say through the Standards Committee but voters are left out in the cold. 'The government’s watered down version of recall risks creating the illusion that people will have a say in recalling their elected representative while ensuring that this will probably never happen in practice. There is a real danger that this could alienate people from politics and politicians even further.'
their MPs were today dismissed as 'worse than the Queen's Speech. It will give constituents the by-election if an MP is jailed - or if the House meaningless, it would be impossible to recall the MP, Parliament can have a say through the will have a say in recalling their elected