by Jon Ashworth
Since the Queen’s Speech, the House of Commons chamber has become a very different place. As a dutiful whip I spend most of my time in and around the chamber and although too many dismiss what goes in there as irrelevant, I still agree with Tony Blair’s valedictory description of it as the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster and is often the place for the pursuit of noble causes.
Whipping affords me the advantage of seeing our opposition on the Tory benches close up, indeed I can often see the whites of their eyes.
I’m fast becoming familiar with the various personalities on the Tory benches. There are the desperately ambitious types mustard-keen for George Osborne’s recognition (it’s always Osborne they want to impress not so much Cameron oddly), the eurosceptic rebels who bang on about nothing else, the thoughtful select committee parliamentarians and the patrician grandees who, I have to admit, are like nothing I have ever come across before in my life.
But this last week I’ve seen less of them. Labour MPs have totally dominated the debates on the gracious address. Our chief whip in the Lords has highlighted already the flimsiness of this Queens Speech. All quite extraordinary for a government’s second Queen’s speech considering this government is made up of a party out of office for thirteen years and another that has been out of office for ninety or so years.
On the day of the Queen’s Speech after the jokes and knockabout, David Cameron started explaining how the various measures sat together as coherent vision for where he wants to the take the country. Well that is what he is supposed to do but actually he didn’t do that at all. Instead he rattled through a list of odds and sods as if he was reading out Ukrainian tractor production statistics.
I reckon many of his Tory MPs thought the same as an unusual amount just got up and shuffled out before their prime minister had finished. I’ve never seen that before.
But what’s more worrying for my opposite numbers in the Tory whips office, not only did they shuffle, off not bothering to hear their leader finish, they didn’t bother to shuffle back in to make their own contribution to the debates.
On the Wednesday of the Queen’s Speech, 10 Tories spoke compared to 8 Labour MPs. Fair enough they have more than us that seems about right.
But look at how the Queen’s speech debates unfold over the next five days: in the home affairs debate 10 Labour MPs against 8 Tory MPs; foreign affairs 16 Labour MPs against 10 Tory and 1 Lib Dem MP; business debate 25 Labour MPs against 16 Tory MPs and 4 Lib MPs; cost of living debate 16 Labour MPs against 6 Tory MPs and 4 Lib Dem MPs; and the final economy debate 25 Labour MPs against 20 Tory MPs and 2 Lib Dem MPs.
In total over 6 days of debate about 40 per cent Labour MPs spoke from the backbenches against just 23 per cent of Tories. What’s more, on most days there were even more Labour MPs who wanted to speak who didn’t get called too.
It’s hardly surprising given how disappointing the Queen’s Speech turned about to be. The central issue facing Britain is a lack of a plan for growth. This Queen’s Speech should have been an opportunity to put a plan for jobs and growth centre stage. Instead we got more of the same and suggestions that employees’ protections at work will be eroded.
If true , what a depressing turnaround for Vince Cable who began his career co authoring the red paper on Scotland before becoming a special advisor to John Smith and now in the twilight of his career set to become the Twickenham strangler of rights at work.
But despite the Tory red meat on dismantling employee protections, morale seems low on the Tory benches. I remember from my own time working at the tail-end of the last Labour government that when the chips are down and things start going wrong colleagues are reluctant to turn up in the chamber to make those speeches praising their frontbench.
To be fair, it happens to all governments over time, but if I was a Tory whip I would be deeply concerned it’s happening to David Cameron’s government after just two years.
Jon Ashworth is Labour MP for Leicester South and an opposition whip
Tags: Jon Ashworth, queen's speech, Tory whips
Cable is a disgrace. The absurd suggestion from the Tory Party donor that ‘workers be dismissed at will, because their face doesn’t fit … ‘ would be enough to make any decent person resign. And Cameron shoud have stamped on that disciminatory suggestion pronto.
Another insightful piece from the intelligent & hard-working MP for Leicester South.
Although the Penultimate Paragraph, 1st Sentence doesn’t make sense too me.
“But despite the Tory red meant on dismantling employee protections, morale seems low on the Tory benches.”
I have tweeted him to clarify. Probably being a stupid Average Joe.
They are probably out doing real work.
Watch out for this ruse Jon http://www.inflatablecrowd.com/default/Home.html (images of Tory MPs running behind them colditz style asking questions from different places LOL
I see that the offending letter has been removed.
“But despite the Tory red meant on dismantling employee protections, morale seems low on the Tory benches.”
has been amended to read:
“But despite the Tory red meat on dismantling employee protections, morale seems low on the Tory benches.”
I wasn’t being a totally stupid Average Joe after all.
Hi Kulgan, thanks for pointing out, that one was down to me and my shoddy subbing – ed
Swatantra makes a good point, however businesses do have to able to lay people off if they can’t do the work, but thay may not be anyone’s fault; it;s just that sometimes we don’t know if we can do something until we try. If we try, but discover that we can;t do a certain thing – perhaps through a lack of physical strength or stamina, perhaps because we find we cannot bear the noise or heat or dust or other demands, it’s not right that the employer has to keep us on and it’s not right that we should be penalised if we have to go back on benefits.
A ‘no-fault’ dismissal is not the same as ‘face does n’t fit”, OTH there are people who are just troublesome gits (we all know some) and piss off everybody in the crew by making bother or not pulling their weight. If you have a good team you can’t afford to have your key people bugger off to another company becuase they can’t abide the person that (now you know what they’re like) you wish you’d never taken on in the first place. Your team has to come first or you ‘re letting them down as well as damaging your business.
Swatantra makes a good point, however businesses do have to able to lay people off if they can’t do the work, but that may not be anyone’s fault; it;s just that sometimes we don’t know if we can do something until we try. If we try, but discover that we can;t do a certain thing – perhaps through a lack of physical strength or stamina, perhaps because we find we cannot bear the noise or heat or dust or other demands, it’s not right that the employer has to keep us on and it’s not right that we should be penalised if we have to go back on benefits.
A ‘no-fault’ dismissal is not the same as ‘face does n’t fit”, OTH there are people who are just troublesome gits (we all know some) and piss off everybody in the crew by making bother or not pulling their weight. If you have a good team you can’t afford to have your key people bugger off to another company becuase they can’t abide the person that (now you know what they’re like) you wish you’d never taken on in the first place. Your team has to come first or you ‘re letting them down as well as damaging your business.