Thursday, October 27, 2011
Two of them voted for the motion before they voted against it
On the basis of information received I checked Monday's voting lists again. Sure enough, although Henry Smith MP voted only once this time, two others followed his example and went into both the Aye and the No lobby. They are Iain Stewart MP for Milton Keynes South and Mike Weatherley MP for Hove. All list makers, please note.
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That's how members (formally) register an abstention when not absent, isn't it? (Instead of staying put in the Chamber, as some did.)
ReplyDeleteA very convenient way of doing so. They could have absented themselves or stayed put. But if they go through the two lobbies they can rely on people reading only the anti-government list of votes and giving them credit for being courageous. If you look through the various sites that put up those lists you will see that the two names are included without any comments though, I understand, a few people noted what happened. So they get to eat their cake and to keep it. We need to watch out for this behaviour.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Helen. I don't know why my cynicism deserted me, having posted this link at the time of the Smith affair:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.publicwhip.org.uk/boths.php
Forgot to thank you for getting the "eat one's cake and have it" expression the right way round. :)
ReplyDeleteWe aim to please, Clarence. ;)
ReplyDelete