Week three and the whiff of revolution is still in the air. MPs who were not fatally wounded are still running for cover, while the Lords tremble at the thought of being next in line. Over in Brussels nervous passengers on the Bisto Express are locking themselves in the bunker that has so far proved impervious to the annual ordeal by audit.

As spectator sports go I have to confess to mixed feelings. I take little delight in seeing anyone publicly injured and humiliated. But along with the vast majority of the population, I am amused and angry. Amused at the ducks, the moat, horse manure, dry rot and phantom mortgages. Angry that, as Jonathan Aitken (who ought to know about these matters) said on the Today programme, compliance has replaced conscience.

The truth is that the gunpowder has been accumulating for a very long time. Increasingly a professional class of politician has grown and the more professional they have become, the more remote they are. Admittedly we live in a complex world where many of the issues that Parliament has to deal with are simply not resolvable by Parliament alone. Yet our MPs stumble along passing legislation that lays impossible layers of bureaucracy on education, the health service, small businesses, you name it. Politicians have fallen into the trap of believing that law and process alone suffice.

Despite the rhetoric about Martin Bell's white suits and Esther Rantzen's dancing, Roy Hattersley made the sensible point in last week's Times that parliamentary parties lack a coherent ideology. He then implied that independent MPs were a waste of space.

Times Archive, 1985: Terry Waite in Libya

Envoy negotiates hostages' freedom in triumphant diplomatic mission

BACKGROUND

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I disagree profoundly. He knows as well as I do that there is virtually no difference between the two main parties in Westminster and the vast majority of Labour and Tory politicians are gagged, bound and beaten by the whip. No self-respecting individual in touch with the the people of this country and wishing to represent them could possibly submit to that. It reduces the individual to mere voting fodder and that is what the majority have become. Small wonder that they turn their attention to dealing with dry rot at their second home rather than speaking boldly in Parliament.

Unlike Lord Hattersley, I believe a good sprinkling of independent MPs in the House at the next election will liven things up considerably. If they are sensible they will be modest as to what they can achieve.

In the past I have frequently been approached about standing for Parliament and have never allowed my name to go forward. There have been several reasons for this. On the one hand, I cannot stand political jingoism and did not want to be caught up in that world. It seemed to me that so much time was wasted in Parliament fighting outdated party political issues and that was not the way in which I wanted to spend my time.

On the more personal side, many years ago when I was constantly in the public eye as a hostage negotiator and latterly as a hostage, my family were subject to the most intense press scrutiny. They had to suffer journalists camping on the doorstep for weeks on end and as they are all very private individuals this attention was far from welcome. I have no desire to subject them to such an ordeal again.

On the other hand, I have had long experience of working overseas; of dealing with issues of terrorism, penal reform and homelessness. I continue to be active in those fields and my experience could be brought into Parliament. I think I am also in touch with the people of this country and understand something of their hopes and aspirations. So, what to do?

Quite truthfully my mind is not yet made up and I guess there are a number of people in the same position as myself. We want the best for our country and if we take on the burden of office we will not take it on lightly and certainly not for personal gain. Perhaps a main contribution will be to put a bit of ginger into Parliament and encourage the long overdue reform of both houses. It is a total disgrace that once reform of the Lords was set in motion it was put on hold mainly because further reform would be too great a threat to the Commons. Much as I applaud the Archbishop of Canterbury's pastoral concern for individuals, he must also be aware that this crisis, no matter how unpleasant, could be just the very thing the country needs.

Parliament is important but not the moribund Parliament we have suffered for far too long. The transformation from duckhouse to doghouse was rapid and took everyone by surprise. Now is the time for the people of this country to rally round those men and women willing to serve their country as independent Members of Parliament. They won't have all the answers but they may well bring some fresh air into a political hothouse that has been suffocating for far too long.

Terry Waite is a former special envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury

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