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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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 Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:47 am Post subject: galloway in parliament yesterday |
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| apparently galloway gave a speech in parliament yesterday - anyone catch it? |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:54 am Post subject: |
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| I heard a bit about it - he was talking about the economy I think - but didn't know in advance so wasn't able to record it. It might be on the Parliament tv site, but I doubt it. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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This is the whole of yesterday's coverage from Parliament - I've had a couple of quick scans through (it's almost 8 hours long) but can't find the Galloway bit. |
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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Him actually turning up for once does merit a thread whether he talked or not.  |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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But he is there all the time - a voting record is not a record of attendance in the house itself.
How many times has your mp spoken in parliament this year? I don't even know who mine is - he/she must be a bloody shadow. |
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: galloway in parliament yesterday |
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| luke wrote: | | apparently galloway gave a speech in parliament yesterday - anyone catch it? |
Not exactly a speech...
| Quote: | George Galloway (Bethnal Green & Bow, Respect)
When the Liberals sound like Labour and the Conservatives like communists, the kaleidoscope has definitely been shaken—but while the pieces are in flux, why do we not reorder this world? What is so wrong about the taxpayer having a seat in the boardroom? Fifty thousand million pounds will buy a chair in any boardroom in the world. It would be taxation without representation, and will run the risk that Mr. Mullin has just adumbrated—that without a Government presence in the boardroom, those habits will soon be reverted to again.
The Chancellor and the Prime Minister have performed admirably and impressively over the last couple of days, but the real test will be how they respond to the crisis in the real economy. The country will not understand if banks can be bailed out but factories can go to the wall, jobs can be lost and the public can lose their houses.
Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer, HM Treasury; Edinburgh South West, Labour)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his unaccustomed support for our position. I shall make the most of it.
In relation to Government nominees sitting in boardrooms, I never thought that a particularly useful course of action to follow—
George Galloway (Bethnal Green & Bow, Respect)
Oh yes you did!
Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer, HM Treasury; Edinburgh South West, Labour)
Oh no I didn't—and now I know who wrote that column in Private Eye; I always thought it was the hon. Gentleman. I appreciate what he says, but as with so many of the other things he has said, we shall probably have to part company on it.
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | But he is there all the time - a voting record is not a record of attendance in the house itself.
How many times has your mp spoken in parliament this year? I don't even know who mine is - he/she must be a bloody shadow. |
You should use this excellent website. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
As far as GG goes the stats are
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/george_galloway/bethnal_green_and_bow#votingrecord
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# Has spoken in 2 debates in the last year — well below average amongst MPs.
# Has received answers to 1 written question in the last year — below average amongst MPs.
# Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a low number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2007, according to constituents.
# Has voted in 10% of votes in parliament — well below average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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Those stats prove little when you consider that the majority of mps only appear in the house when they are required to do so under their respective Whips.
Speaking in debates isn't the same as speaking in Parliament of course, the last substantial appearance that he made was as as a closing statement, not part of a debate. |
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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From the same site they have your man in this debate at 36:30 minutes in
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | Those stats prove little when you consider that the majority of mps only appear in the house when they are required to do so under their respective Whips.
Speaking in debates isn't the same as speaking in Parliament of course, the last substantial appearance that he made was as as a closing statement, not part of a debate. |
I think he owes his constituents a duty to vote more than 10% of the time.
Especially considering his complete fuck up in 2005 when he was away chasing cash for himself in Ireland missing a vote in the Terrorism Act which got passed by a single vote.
It was one thing when he was MP for affluent Glasgow Kelvin to saunter around on his own little private projects but Bethnall is an area where the people particularly need their MP to represent them. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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I don't get it - if you dislike him so much, why are you so interested in him? It seems quite unhealthy.
As far as his constituents are concerned, he's done more (through his radio and other appearances) to make their situation public than any MP I can think of in any other constituency. He is also regularly featured in the local Bethnal Green newspaper on matters of importance to the people there.
As far as the people in Bethnal Green being in more need because they're less affluent - have you never been to Partick or Anderston? These are not affluent areas by any stretch of the imagination. |
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nekokate
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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I remember George explaining the reason he votes so irregularly in Parliament, and to paraphrase, it was something like "The majority of votes are cast for a proposal by the party in office or an ammendment by the opposition, and I seldom wish to vote for either".
That sounds fair enough to me. Why waste precious time that could be spent actually sorting out your constituents by lounging around on a big green settee voting for either a load of bollocks or an ammendment to a load of bollocks? |
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seshme
Joined: 02 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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| faceless wrote: | I don't get it - if you dislike him so much, why are you so interested in him? It seems quite unhealthy.
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Quite the reverse.
I don't dislike George but I can also recognise he has flaws. Surely it's more unhealthy not to question the actions of our politicians? I can cheer him on at the senate hearing(the highlight of his life he said just the other week) but at the same time think he makes some bad choices.
As far as the affluence or otherwise of Partick and Anderson I guess it's all relative. George was my MP for quite a few years when I lived in Partick and I've followed his career since, he's an interesting character.
Sorry I sometimes forget this is his fan club site and people aren't used to any negative information about the man. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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It's not his 'fan club' as can be seen by many posts by myself and others in which we express our (sometimes complete) opposition to some of his ideas. Tibet and China being a major issue.
If you want to post negative information about Galloway there's a million sites out there where they'll happily suck it up. Basically, there's a big difference between offering a different slant to what's said and repeating old tat that people have been saying for years.
He was also my mp and I was proud of his work at the time - most notably at Faslane nuclear weapons base. |
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