Catching up with Chairman Pickles
I didn’t catch Question Time live last night. That’s not unusual; the busy lives in the household mean that we are often dependent on the Sky+ box and its wonderful ‘Series Link’ feature. So this morning I sat down with a large cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie and prepared for an hour of enjoyment.
One of the benefits of watching in this way is being able to fast forward though most of Michael Winner. ‘Don’t worry, it’s only like a commercial’ I thought, as I ran quickly through his self-satisfied smug grin and banal comments. Last night there was the additional benefit that I could watch Eric Pickles, Chairman of the Conservative party, over and over again (it’s not often that I say that!), firstly to make sure I wasn’t delusional and secondly to enjoy the delicious moment over and over. Now here I disagree with LibDemVoice. Watching Pickles was not car-crash TV (something that like a car crash in the street, you know you shouldn’t watch, but you just can’t help yourself), but a lesson in why we should put politicians on the spot more often and press to get some honest answers. It should be required viewing for every voter. You can read some of the transcript at Mark Reckons.
Asked if he had a second home, he said that he did and the reason why is because the House of Commons ran ‘like clockwork’ and he could not afford to be late. ‘Like a job?’ asked Dimbleby, incredulously. Pickles said that he had had to commute for a month when his wife had been ill and it had been very difficult. As Caroline Lucas said, ‘Welcome to the real world’!. LibDem Ed Davey (who is entitled to claim a second home allowance and never has) had wonderful set of expressions as he watched Pickles dig a hole – and then keep digging.
As Ed Davey pointed out, the long, late hours culture at Westminster ended a decade ago, According to the Parliamentary web site, in the last full year, Parliament sat for 165 days– a total of just 33 weeks – 6 weeks fewer than the school year and a massive 14 weeks less than a normal employee. During that time, Parliament sat for fewer than eight hours a day on average, much lower than the amount of time the professionals that MPs like to compare themselves to, spend at work. Now whilst I know that MPs to work outside the Chamber, it is clear that the amount of time MPs need to be in Westminster is not much more than half the time most people are at their place of work.
The Tories like to portray Chairman Eric as the blunt-speaking Northerner who tells it like it is. Now he has blown the game wide open.
P.S. Last night Eric Pickles told the QT audience that Brentwood is 37 miles from Westminster. In fact it is only 20 miles away. Obviously he doesn’t go home often enough to know where his own constituency is.
Related posts:
- Eric Pickles the TARDIS time-traveller
- I don't really live in Watford because it's a long way from London, says town's MP
- For the sake of the MP's children
Comments
28 April 2009, 9:23 am
[...] Ward’s first reason was that she sometimes has to start early or finish late. Like Eric Pickles on Question Time, she seems to have an overblown sense of her own importance, not understanding [...]