Life imitating art

[BillyStubbsTears]

I love The Thick of It. Genius comedy that makes vicious digs at politics.

But Jesus wept, even they never came up with a storyline of a Government minister thrappimg off into a webcam and sending the pictures to a journalist!

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29398973

Oh aye. And that Reckless bloke who's joined UKIP. What's with his voice? Was he doing an impression of Beaker off the Muppets?

[LongbridgeMGRover]

Nothing new about Tory MPs losing control of their willies, but this is the first time a Conservative prick wanted to be a movie star.
MPs, especially the chinless true blue types are often thought of as living in the past but here is one who has a grasp of modern technology as well as something else.

[RobTheRover]

.....thrappimg off into a webcam and sending the pictures to a journalist!

I didnt know Leslie Grantham was a Tory minister now.

[ravenrover]

Can anyone explain the legitimacy of an elected Member of Parliament (not an erected Member) having the right to switch parties without having to stand down and fight a by-election on behalf of their new party first? He/She was elected as an MP as a member of a majority vote for political party, whichever it may be, to represent the constituency on behalf of the majority that voted He/She into office, by switching parties they surely no longer represent the electorate that put them into Westminster in the 1st place. I asked Clare short the same question, via e mail to The Politics Show, after she defected and she simply blustered the question away without answering it.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Raven

Under the law of this country, you don't vote for a party, you vote for an individual. Sounds daft I know, but if you think about it, it makes sense.

How Parliament is supposed to work is that intelligent representatives of the people discuss and debate issues and finally vote on them to determine policy. If you voted for a party, rather than a person, you'd effectively be requiring the MP to always follow the party line. That would be unacceptable, because it would remove any option of holding the party leaders to account. It's bad enough as it is, with party discipline pressurising MPs to toe the line, but at least we have a system where MPs can refuse to back their leaders if they think they are fundamentally wrong.

That's the theoretical basis. In practice though, I agree that most voters are effectively voting for a party rather than a person. So, if someone switches parties, I agree that there should automatically be a by-election.

[The Red Baron]

I can maybe accept an MP resigning from his or her party and then continuing to sit as an Independent. However, if they join another party then there should be a by-election.

Alan Howarth and Quentin Davies are two characters who spring to mind. Both left the Tories to join Labour yet refused to step down and fight by-elections. Could the fact that both were MPs for safe Tory seats have had something to do with it?

From what I read today, Carswell is more or less a shoo-in in Clacton but Rochester and Strood promises to be a very interesting three-way contest. Labour stand a good chance if the right wing vote splits down the middle.

[BillyStubbsTears]

TRB

I see where you are coming from on the Independent/Party theme, but it's a grey area. In practice, very, very few people decide their vote on intimate knowledge of the candidates' personal viewpoints. If I vote for a UKIP candidate (!) it is generally because on balance, I agree with UKIP's stance on a range of policy issues (!!). If my MP then leaves UKIP and sits as an Independent, I'm not at all sure that I'd trust him or her to reflect my opinion on any issue.

Much simpler and more transparent if we just had a requirement for any MP who leaves (or is expelled from) a party to have to go through a by-election.

In fairness to the two Conservative-->UKIP deserters, they have put themselves on the line on this issue by standing down and forcing by-elections. Although of course, with UKIP being a very savvy political organisation (despite what they want people to believe) it was inevitable that the MPs would do this to up the pressure on Cameron.


NB: It's f**king grand sat here on the Left watching the Right descend into civil war the way the Left did in the 1980s. Good luck lads and lasses. It took us on the left a generation to come out the other side and as a result, we gave you lot a free run for nearly 20 years.

[not on facebook]

and its the lefts stamp on society today thats fcuked it up

far too many slackers living off benafits With no intention
to work as they can get by via whats been paid out to them.

have more kids and government will throw Money at you

both Labour and conseratives are at fault

just look at the mess in Rotherham Council and SYP all left wing
thinking about not upsetting the  asians ffs

you never hear or see the working class any more  as its living above their class
or living on their backsides class