WATCHING the US midterm elections unfold, it was hard to square some of the rhetoric with that nation’s ringing declaration of independence which ambitiously envisioned the role of government as securing for each citizen their inalienable right to life, liberty and – particularly – the pursuit of happiness.

These days, Finland tops the official league table of happy countries. It is also, alongside New Zealand, Norway and Denmark, one of the least corrupt nations on the planet – and there is a connection, as the Scottish think tank The Bottom Line pointed out this week. Countries with clean governments, whose inhabitants feel most able to influence their own lives and which have small, well-developed economies not only perform better but are also better places to live.

On most measures of corruption, the UK comes out reasonably – if slightly less – well and certainly, in terms of the passing of brown envelopes full of cash, the 2010 legislation appears effective. Actual bribery is rare.

But nonetheless, corruption does exist in the UK, and one aspect which has been on stark display over the past few days has perverted both public service and the UK constitution itself. The thing that connects both of those areas of national life is the discredited honours system.

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Most countries have some means of recognising exceptional service by individuals whose contribution to the well-being of the society in which they live might otherwise go unrecognised and unappreciated.

However, the UK honours system has become a vast civil service-run machine that, appallingly, still celebrates the British Empire in its grades of membership, cements in place a class-ridden status quo and gives most kudos to those who least deserve it, particularly politicians.

An independent Scotland will inevitably have to consider introducing some sort of awards scheme (most countries do) – but if it were to happen here, it should be small, reflect public views of worth (not official views or vested interests) and be supervised rigorously and independently The bankruptcy of what currently exists can easily be seen by looking at the case of Gavin Williamson.

I am not a great believer in the old adage of there being no smoke without fire, but when you are choking on the fumes, it is wise to assume there is a problem of some sort. Being forced to leave government three times indicates he should never have entered it, but not only did he do so, he picked up along the way the rank and medal of a Commander of the British Empire and then, in 2022, received a knighthood.

These baubles were given to him not became of his contributions to the public good (which are non-existent) but because he had made himself politically useful to not one but four prime ministers, three of whom then had to either sack him or persuade him to resign.

Boris Johnson has been particularly adept at using this corrupt system to help those who have helped him, and by so doing, he has also further subverted the creaking, archaic UK constitution.

Many – but not all – democracies have a second refining chamber in their legislatures. Whether or not Scotland should have one will be a point of debate as our final written constitution is developed, I am sure.

However, it will be nothing like the current House of Lords, which is an obscenity and an outrage.

From red leather benches, more than 700 superannuated politicians, retired civil servants, former military officers, wealthy businessmen and a variety of others – all appointed and not a single one with a democratic mandate – debate and decide as an integral part of the legislative process.

Bizarrely, they also still have among them – as of right – the remnants of the oldest families in the land whose ancestors clawed their way to prominence, as well as no fewer than 24 Church of England bishops.

Despite regular mutterings about democratic reform, this body, with a perpetual Tory majority, has the willing and active consent of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats – the former because it wants to govern and the latter because it is massively favoured by the current arrangements with almost 10 times more unelected parliamentarians than elected ones.

Now appointment to this charade of governance can even be deferred until a moment that is politically advantageous both to the sitting government and those “honoured”.

This “honour”, of course, comes with a generous daily allowance for attendance and lifetime membership of what has been called “the best club in London” as well as lifetime influence on the laws that regulate all our lives, all without the merest scintilla of accountability.

One person who is, allegedly, now in the ermine-lined waiting room is Alister Jack – in my view, the worst Secretary of State for Scotland since the office was revived in 1885.

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Having done nothing as a member of the chamber to which he was actually elected, he is now preparing to take up perpetual unelected membership of a second Jack is, however, a self-confessed friend of Boris Johnson, which seems his strongest qualification for nomination alongside other chums such as Nadine Dorries and fawning functionaries like Ross Kempsell – who at 30 will be the youngest life peer. For Ross, to borrow a phrase, life will mean life.

Honours like those already awarded to Williamson and in the pipeline for Jack, Dorries and Kempsell, among others, are, of course, legal but that does not make them right. They result from favours and friendship and their recipients are devoid of the obvious merit that an honest honours system should reflect.

However, there is one chink of light in this dark, discreditable swamp. Scotland is seeing first-hand how not to award honours, how not to run a government and how not to operate a constitution.

We now need to learn the lesson from Finland and other small progressive nations.

Independence makes a country not only more successful, but also much happier.