Whipped to freeze the poor
I was absolutely gobsmacked that David Heath’s Fuel Poverty Bill had failed to get the requisite 100 votesto progress in the Commons. Technically it is still there, but it goes to the back of a long queue and has virtually no chance of becoming law. In that arcane way that Parliament works, the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Joan Ruddock, deliberately talked the Bill out, supported by lackey Andrew Dismore. I hope that residents of Deptford and Hendon who too poor and frightened to heat their homes, remember that at the next election.
Of those who did vote, the Liberal Democrats provided the vast majority. The voters and tellers in favour comprised:
20 Conservatives out of 193 (10%)
28 Labour out of 350 (8%)
45 Liberal Democrats out of 63 (71%)
1 independent
Maybe other voters should ask why their MP wasn’t there. Yes, some will have had reasonable excuses (such as being on Orkney), but it’s hard to see why over 90% of the Labour and Conservative MPs weren’t there. As the Chief Whip, Nick Brown was there to enforce the whip on Labour MPs, it can hardly be a surprise that Watford’s MP and Assistant Whip Claire Ward absented herself. As she claims a second home to be close to Westminster, she must have had a damned good excuse. Sometimes when I see her entry on the web site They Work For You, I wonder if it should be moved to the parallel site of She Works for Them.
Some charities have balmed the lack of support on the vote being held on a Friday, when many MPs are in their constituencies. But Friday is the traditional day for Private Members’ Bills. And as Steve Webb, LibDem MP for Northavon, near Bristol says, many MPs such as himself, came back to Westminstersimply to vote on this important measure. It’s not as if there aren’t enough MPs with first and/or second homes in the capital to have popped back to Waetmintster for a couple of hours to vote. What other measure can save lives, money and the environment?
Related posts:
- Government climbdown over MPs expenses?
- Watford’s Labour Party really don’t understand how elections work
- I don't really live in Watford because it's a long way from London, says town's MP
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