Come back, Mr Speaker, all is forgiven
The Speaker gets a lot of flak from many bloggers who think, among other things, that he should try harder to be neutral.
But credit where credit is due, this week he sat on a number of inappropriate and childish Labour attacks on the shadow chancellor which were not within the rules of parliament. Quotes below come from Hansard via Conservative Home.
Labour MP Lyn Brown fired the first salvo:
"Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab): I congratulate the Chancellor on the recapitalisation of banks, which has been admired and copied throughout the world, but was that task helped by the leaking of confidential documents by the Bank of England and by the hon. Gentleman on the Opposition Front Bench on “The Andrew Marr Show”? What does the Chancellor think of his opposite number’s judgment?" [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker: "Order. Did the hon. Lady warn the shadow Chancellor that she was going to make an attack on him?"
Lyn Brown: "No, Mr. Speaker."
Mr. Speaker: "Well she should have done. I call Julian Brazier. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Lady must behave herself."
Then came Labour MP Karen Buck:
Ms Buck: "Mr Speaker, I wonder whether it might be possible for you to accept a note signed by everyone on the Labour Benches, because for the next 18 months we all intend to do little else other than attack the shadow Chancellor." [ Interruption. ]
Mr. Speaker: "Order. A genuine attack is one thing, but a personal attack on anyone’s integrity will be stopped. I just put that on the record, but I know that the hon. Lady will not indulge in any personal attacks on anyone."
Ms Buck: "Perish the thought, Sir."
Then came Anne Snelgrove:
"Anne Snelgrove (South Swindon) (Lab): "Is it bad judgment to oppose Government action to protect small savers’ money in banks and building societies, or just another example of social justice from the perspective of the Bullingdon club?"
Mr. Speaker: "Order. The hon. Lady really should cut that behaviour out."
And finally in came Dennis Skinner ...
"Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): "Is the Chancellor aware that it makes a lot more sense to borrow money to create jobs and to help small businesses rather than spending the whole summer cadging money for the Tory party to shore up its finances?"
Mr. Speaker: "Order. I thought the hon. Gentleman was going to give us a good example, but that did not happen"
My late mother, a primary school teacher, sometimes compared the behaviour of MPs unfavourably to that of the children she taught. When I read the above comments it brought back a memory of her voice saying "We've got a lot of babies running the country."
But credit where credit is due, this week he sat on a number of inappropriate and childish Labour attacks on the shadow chancellor which were not within the rules of parliament. Quotes below come from Hansard via Conservative Home.
Labour MP Lyn Brown fired the first salvo:
"Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab): I congratulate the Chancellor on the recapitalisation of banks, which has been admired and copied throughout the world, but was that task helped by the leaking of confidential documents by the Bank of England and by the hon. Gentleman on the Opposition Front Bench on “The Andrew Marr Show”? What does the Chancellor think of his opposite number’s judgment?" [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker: "Order. Did the hon. Lady warn the shadow Chancellor that she was going to make an attack on him?"
Lyn Brown: "No, Mr. Speaker."
Mr. Speaker: "Well she should have done. I call Julian Brazier. [Interruption.] Order. The hon. Lady must behave herself."
Then came Labour MP Karen Buck:
Ms Buck: "Mr Speaker, I wonder whether it might be possible for you to accept a note signed by everyone on the Labour Benches, because for the next 18 months we all intend to do little else other than attack the shadow Chancellor." [ Interruption. ]
Mr. Speaker: "Order. A genuine attack is one thing, but a personal attack on anyone’s integrity will be stopped. I just put that on the record, but I know that the hon. Lady will not indulge in any personal attacks on anyone."
Ms Buck: "Perish the thought, Sir."
Then came Anne Snelgrove:
"Anne Snelgrove (South Swindon) (Lab): "Is it bad judgment to oppose Government action to protect small savers’ money in banks and building societies, or just another example of social justice from the perspective of the Bullingdon club?"
Mr. Speaker: "Order. The hon. Lady really should cut that behaviour out."
And finally in came Dennis Skinner ...
"Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): "Is the Chancellor aware that it makes a lot more sense to borrow money to create jobs and to help small businesses rather than spending the whole summer cadging money for the Tory party to shore up its finances?"
Mr. Speaker: "Order. I thought the hon. Gentleman was going to give us a good example, but that did not happen"
My late mother, a primary school teacher, sometimes compared the behaviour of MPs unfavourably to that of the children she taught. When I read the above comments it brought back a memory of her voice saying "We've got a lot of babies running the country."
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