The charade of Ed Davey getting angry was not as spontaneous as LibDems are suggesting. Indeed, it's quite hilarious that despite hours of preplanning, their "spontaneous protest" went off with all the fizz of a wet firework.
I am told that the LibDems had planned for not only Ed Davey to provoke the Deputy Speaker into ejecting him, but Julia Goldsworthy and Norman Baker were all set for martyrdom too. Sadly, though, they couldn't get frenzied enough and merely joined a few of their colleagues in stomping out in a "well that'll show 'em" fit of pique. Several other LibDem MPs stayed rooted to their seats as they failed to react to a whips pager message ordering them to spontaneously scarper.
In the end they all managed to make total prats of themselves. It comes to something when despite hours of planning, the brewery piss-up was still totally disorganised. Whelk stall, anyone?
31 comments:
The Chamber must have been a considerably better place for the walk-out. Can anyone think of a single act that would bring a bigger improvement than having no Lib Dems shouting their mouths off the whole time ?
Hang on Iain
A show down about the EU
and all the Tories were hiding behind the curtains
SHAMMMMEEEEE
Sorry.
I expect Cameron to comment on this in 4 weeks time
The Lib Dems made a stand regaring the EU. And Tory bloggers are having a titty.
SSShhhhh I have no doubt that Tory MPS were chomping at the bit, but Caulson sent them all a pager message to refrain
How very very very sad you all are
I couldn’t agree more with “Womble on Tour” – the sooner we get shot of the Yellow Peril the better. And I for one can’t wait to see the back of two-faced, back-stabbing “Brutus” Cable.
This disgraceful behaviour in the House is just an extension of their despicable campaigning techniques – although the political arm of the trade union movement [aka the Labour Party] are also to blame [historically].
I would suggest an alternative way to view this childish footstamping by Davey – it’s a vain attempt to ‘prove’ they aren’t part of what they term “Tweedledee/Tweedledum” politics. This is a joke, of course, as they are usually the Greek chorus of approval to ‘the government of all the Comrades’. Indeed, the Lib-Lab Pact is alive and kicking – despite their hypocritical denials to the contrary.
Just out of interest, what do you think would have been the consequences had the Tories walked in protest at the stifling of a pro-referendum amendment too?
I still think that my earlier comment of "tit" is a more succinct summary of Ed Davey's behaviour.
I also think that I deserve a prize, Iain.
Great get the EU back on the agenda.
Caulson will be having a heart attack
If anyone can actually prove that this walk out was pre planned then the Lib Dem's should be severely censured (not entirely sure by whom - ideally their constituents)!
It shows absolutely contempt for parliament and in particular the Deputy Speaker.
Obviously people can get hot under the colar in the heat of the argument, and that is almost healthy in a democracy, but to stomp out to prove a point is absolutely scandalous.
ALL MPs should boycott the next vote on the farce that's being promoted as "debate" on the Lisbon Treaty. It is an utter disgrace what Brown is doing and if MPs want to have a chance of remaining relevant in the future they should strongly protest this dictatorial abuse of the parliamentary system.
But they won't; as the guy said in his recent book, they're all members of the new political class whose self perpetuation is the highest priority.
Earth quake
If that was a stunt I wish there were more of them.
Our (stupidly)elected leaders are selling us out to a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. Our representatives (ROTFFL)are ratifying the handover without even having our agreement.
ANY demonstration, contrived or not, which keeps this monstrous betrayal in the public awareness is 100% fine by me.
So the Deputy Speaker was rudely ignored. Hard fart!
Parliament is ignoring the entire nation....
Which is the greater insult...the greater evil?...and, inevitably, should Iain & his pals remain comatose, the greater tragedy for this once-great country.
Actually, although this was a futile demonstration by the LibDems, the idea that EU membership should be discussed very seriously is certainly not the hot-potato for Tories that it once was. I would rather suggest that the eternally rolled out waffle about percentage UK trade with the EU would be no different if we returned to a simple trade pact and emptied out the extras which have done the UK (and other members too!) so much damage. The mass immigration from the former East European states could have been foreseen by a raving idiot, but not the EU and particularly this Labour Government. What has the EU given us? - a disasterous common agricultural policy, open borders, interference by a self serving organisation ruled by theorists experimenting with our lives and providing a socialist retirement home for failed politicians. An organisation with out-of-control finances that can never achieve a satisfactory audit and the people of Europe are forced to finance it. Quite simply, it is a disaster which should have been shut down years ago. What possible benefit is there to the UK in supporting the welfare of hundreds of thousands of economic migrant families. Where have the 1.2Million homes come from during the last 4 years and who has financed them? Who has paid for the health care, benefits and schooling? Why do politicians keep telling us that "without immigrants we would not have been so successful during the last 10 years". Total rubbish! The costs of this immigration far outweigh any benefits, has stagnated the pay of the masses in favour of the cheap immigrant and put out of work and onto the dole, thousands of our own citizens who cannot see any future. No wonder the youth of today are so frustrated and 'feral'. Do not forget also the import of the criminal classes causing mayhem on our streets and straining our police service to its limits.
All of this needs to be focused and discussed openly. Yes, there should be a referendum regarding in, or out, and it is imperative that we regain complete control of our borders and rid ourselves of the freeloaders as quickly as possible. We should not grant citizenship to anyone after just 3 years residence and extend the period to 10 years reliant on a continuous work history and a totally clean criminal record.
Norman Baker should be under pressure about his lies locally . He slipped out the news that he had "decided" , that the Treaty was so different that he did not need to stand by the promise he gave . Then, the many people who find this position disgraceful find themselves censored by his friends in the truly dreadful rag the Sussex Express whose proprietors ought to sack the fools in situ forthwith. What we have is a load of public sector employees on good money plus University people and arty types and thats the Liberal majority. Many of them are concerned about local issues though and the news recently that they have no say in , for example , the new local incinerator , thanks to EU guidelines has shown what this dictatorship of bureaucrats really means . Recently there was a fatuous squabble in the district Coucil which is presumably being organised nationally by the Libs who know they are rightly vulnerable having proved themselves to be mendacious maggots . This was along the same lines as the Parliamentary spat
Norman Baker`s tactic here is to use his friends in the local media to keep the entire subject quiet and I expect that is why he did not want to be seen storming out out anywhere . My point is that given the Liberals have clearly planed not only a Parliamentary but a Council level impasse it is quite implausible that they had not planned what their next actions would be.
I am vastly impressed by Norfolk Blogger who shows that there is at least something more to the Lib Dems than their dirty campaigning lies and opportunism. I feel that there are some decent Liberals and they have been badly let down by the leadership who , if the truth be known , are angling for a power sharing deal with Brown and that’s what this is really about , ( and the Clegg Euro nut tendency)
Otherwise they would have dropped this . Now Brown owes them
Oooh, temper, temper Iain! I think you've let yourself get rather carried away... after all, as the TV footage shows rather more than just a "few" Liberal Democrat MPs walking out.
Your account doesn't really match up with what actually happened does it?
Not your finest moment of reportage Iain :-)
Things must be bad for the Libbies to walk-out of the chamber- WITHOUT their handbags( Free-trade, of course)! They wouldn't be any good in panto.
I'll still be loyal, this isn't nearly enough to move me.
Once the Treaty of Lisbon passes into UK law Parliament is completely irrelevant.
Sign seen on the Palace of Westminster:
"Liberal Democrats Whining Here!"
Just because you say something Iain, does not make it so.
Iain, OT but I understand the biggest earthquake to hit England in 24 yrs happened last night.
You must have been having a LOT of fun!
Lets face it this is all about Lib Dem MPs trying to save their seats by pretending to be Eurospectic when their party and especially their leader are busy campaigning for the UK to be reduced to a region of the EU.
Lib Dems - two faced ? I should say so !
Not only have they made "tits" of themselves but their policy of trying to get a referendum on whether we should stay in or out is totally ridiculous. The issue is at the moment is whether we stay in the EU on an ever tighter leash towards a super state or whether we stay in as part of an extended Common Market, which we voted for all those years ago.
Rather than discuss this they put up a straw man to knock down. They just want the discussion to range on the UKIP policy territory which is only relevant once the EU prevents us from asserting our own independence within the EU.
In other words, as with NuLab, they want to stifle discussion on the issues of relevance to most citizens of this country.
Tee hee, Libs get EU debate almost noticed shock. Tories do nothing horror...
Mark, do you deny that it was planned for Goldsworthy and Baker to get ejected too?
Man In A Shed, and others (Iain Dale included), exactly how would you vote if you had the choice between in and out?
Does anyone seriously think the Tories would differ from Labour in their attitude to Europe if they were in office?
If Cameron got into government, wouldn't he just let the backbenchers and the far right down like every other Tory government has towards Europe?
Shouldn't you be the ones who want a choice between being in the EU or not, so you can nail your true colours to the mast?
See Bob Piper's post.
Honestly - the LibDems - a more hopeless bunch of misfits you could never hope to find.
I bet you couldn't drink as much as your average LibDem, buddy.
I agree with Asquith! An in-out referendum would be a once in a generation opportunity to have a proper debate about the pros and cons of our membership of the EU. People would have a chance to see all the facts and make up their own mind.
However Clegg is totally wrong. He thinks that an in-out referendum would scare people into voting "in" and that then the government would have free reign to implement any EU treaty. He doesn't understand that no Parliament may bind its successors and that no referendum could be taken as an invitation to never ask the people what they think ever again.
The debate in the house was about the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. How the Lib Dems believed that an amendment to have a referendum on continued membership of the EU has any relevance to the debate I do not know. And to throw a big hissy fit about it and throw their limited number of inferior toys out of the pram just shows them up as a party that cannot be taken seriously.
Time for them and Labour to cut the crap and start honouring manifesto pledges and have a referendum on Lisbon.
Yes, Ed. Despite the fact that I generally side with the LibDems, I am a little uneasy at their referendum suggestion. In short, I don't trust their motives. It's fairly obvious they are banking on people voting yes. But it might just be the right idea. Either that or a sort of multiple-choice referendum on our approach to the EU, then a second round with the 2 favourite options in a straight fight.
But Clegg shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. The Tory right can put up or shut up. And if I had my way it would be a free vote, with all 3 parties able to campaign for or against.
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