Paddy Tipping has heart attack

Paddy Tipping, the Labour MP for Sherwood, has had a heart attack. Thankfully he is doing OK. "I am receiving excellent care from all the staff at QMC hospital and I cannot praise them too highly." He is on the mend!

He is not the first MP to suffer a heart attack and he will not be the last. I have long thought that we ask ridiculous workloads of our MPs. They sit on committees, they do constituency work, they are encouraged to hobnob with all and sundry to enhance their careers, and they spend time travelling around. Now the pat answer is "We didn't make them do it" but that's not the point. The trust has broken down, not just over allowances, but over what MPs do.

I think there should be a constructive debate about representation in the UK. Do we need so many MPs. Should local government do more not less. The debate about MPs behaviour is one thing. We also need a debate on effective representation.

Read more »

Glenys Kinnock is a makeshift minister

Another bumbling aspect of the reshuffle was the appointment of Glenys Kinnock as Europe Minister. A keen gravy train rider, some wheeltapper has momentarily knocked the stuffing out of her appointment. It has emerged that she could not do the job because she is still an MEP. Under EU Parliament rules, Mrs Kinnock is not allowed to serve as a minister in a national Government until she steps down as an MEP on July 14. Did she forget about this when she chatted to Gordon about replacing the expletive-deleted Ms Flint?

Mrs Kinnock, or more properly Lady Kinnock as her husband is a peer of the realm, is keen as mustard when it comes to receiving taxpayers' money. There has been speculation in Westminster that Mrs Kinnock was reluctant to quit her job as an MEP as she would have to forgo some of her gold-plated pension and golden-goodbye.

Lord Kinnock has in his own right been the head of the British Council. He quit last night. Ever a man to use ten words when one will do, he ran off a missive explaining his reasons why he could not continue "without risking the possibility of perceptions, at home or abroad, that the essential operational independence of the Council could be compromised because I am the husband of a minister in the FCO, the sponsoring department of the Council". This is a minute snippet of the letter!

The Kinnocks have never been outside the world of trade union or taxpayer-funded employment. Theirs is a world of political initiatives and expense-funded gatherings. It was little wonder the Sun took against Kinnock as a possible prime minister.

Now Lady Kinnock the wife is to become Baroness Kinnock. One thing the House of Lords does is knock the cockiness out of the political elite. She will have to be very transparent there. So I am pleased the Europe Minister is not in the Commons. Their lordships will not allow her much time to waffle and whine. And she will have two UKIP peers to lob her questions and to dissect her hyperbole. Can't wait!

Read more »

Jane Kennedy given heave-ho

Jane Kennedy is one of the more stable Labour Party MPs. By that I mean she does not court controversy or the plotter's crown. She was a campaigner against Militant Tendency. She has been a minister without undue problems occurring. However, she has been unable to give 'Assurance of support' to Gordon Brown. He has let her go. She said today, "I wasn't able to give the prime minister the assurance of support that he wanted. No one I have spoken to over the last week has told me to support him." The grim reality becomes ever more stark.

Labour MP Sally Keeble also says she is withdrawing her support for Mr Brown. In a letter to her constituents the Northampton North MP said, "When Gordon said in the autumn of 2007 he wanted more time to put forward his vision, that seemed fair. However 18 months on, it is painfully clear that time has really run out." Time has run out.

Gordon Brown is a prime minister who cannot blame the recession on the previous chancellor, because that person was himself. So he is damned on two counts. His political vision has not materialised and his profligacy as chancellor has come back to haunt him. It could also be said that his dithering fuels his temper tantrums which in turn feeds his dithering.

He's in a vicious circle. Perhaps tonight's Parliamentary Labour Party meeting can put him out of his dilemma?

Read more »

James Purnell jumps ship!

James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stand aside". Bold talk. It is get less than the 50/50 that Michael Crick talked about in Newnight last night.

In a letter to the Sun and the Times, James purnell, who is the work and pensions secretary, said he was not seeking the leadership but wanted to trigger a debate. He is not "leadership material" (a term I've been told not to use, but it suits the purpose here). Purnell is the third cabinet member to announce they are standing down in the past few days.

It's becoming very much more like Ten Green Bottles than it is Don't Rock The Boat!

Read more »

Jacqui Smith to spend more time with her DVDs!

Having claimed expenses on bizarre items, fallen foul of the housing rules by living in her sister's house, the hapless Home Secretary has decided to go before the Presbyterian Conscience is tweaked again.

She has been a disaster as a minister. Mishap following mishap. Harriet Harman, now residing in Fantasyland's finest gated community, says, "I think she is an outstanding home secretary." Umm! Gordon Brown is reshuffling the Cabinet a bit like the deckchairs on the Titanic. Apparently, we've got more of the same for another whole year. Ben Wallace, a Conservative MP, says, "What I think is amazing is the total collapse of management of government, the fact that some people are jumping ship without even informing the prime minister, it seems." Jumping ship indeed! Why should we all be left on board without adequate lifeboats?

Read more »

Browned off with Brown!

Gordon Brown has a new mantra. He keeps going on about it, as he did today. He claims that the House of Commons was carrying on like "a gentlemen's club". This is a gross slur and no gentlemen's club would ever devise a scheme for legalised fraud and morally reprehensible expense claims. He should apologise for his slanders immediately.

Far from being that, this whole lot ressemble Billy Bunter at Greyfriars School. Fat, greedy buggers desperate to get to the tuck shop for the new goodies on offer. Billy Bunter was funny. Gordon Brown is not.

Read more »

Darling to repay service charges

Alistair Darling is to repay about £700 of expenses following fresh allegations about his allowances. The Daily Telegraph says he claimed for costs on a flat in south London while claiming allowances on his grace-and-favour home in Downing Street.

If he hasn't done anything wrong, why is he paying back the money? Fine way to carry on as Chancellor.

Read more »