Practice what you preach Marky boy
Some MPs have signalled their intention to go on sympathy strike on budget day after being instructed by the PCS union not to cross their picket line outside Westminster Palace.
Jack McDonnell, the Labour Party Chairman, has emailed members of the PCS all-party parliamentary group informing them that there will be a picket line at Westminster and asking MPs not to cross "in solidarity" which
has got Mark Pritchard's back up ...
MPs should be servants of their constituents and not servants of militant unions. Any MP who fails to turn up for work should have their pay docked and the Speaker should be called upon to investigate.
Couldn't agree more Marky boy. As your
average attendance in Parliament is only 63.3%, I'm assuming that you will be refunding the taxpayer £23,769.12 (36.7% of
an MP's £64,766 salary)? Just make the cheque payable to Charlie Whelan and cut out the middle man, there's a good lad.
Update by Merk: I find his comments even more ironic given that if anyone emailed Mark last week they'd have received an Out of Office Reply back!
Labels: Jack McDonnell, PCS
Come fly with me ...
Marky boy has been in the news a fair bit these last few days.
Earlier this week it was for
getting slapped down by the Speaker of the House, John Bercow, for being a naughty boy in Parliament and then getting a further telling off for suggesting that Bercow was being prompted by a Labour Minister.
And hot off the press,
the Unite union has accused British Airways of "buying" MPs with free flights, singling out Mark Pritchard who they say has had £15k worth of free flights from them in the past few years and suggesting that might have something to do with him criticising BA staff in the House of Commons the other day.
The Unite Union is sponsoring 25% of all Labour candidates at the general election, including Mark's neighbour,
David Wright MP but I must stress that that doesn't mean those MPs or the Labour Party has been "bought" by the Unite Union because the unions are "democratic" so that makes it ok.
I wonder if MP
2 will be leading the
campaign to give Bercow his marching orders ...
Labels: British Airways, John Bercow, Unite Union
Africa
Last week was a busy week in Parliament for Mark with him asking questions on some vital matters to the people of Telford.
On Tuesday,
he asked the Foreign Secretary whether he was aware that some ships around the horn of Africa are turning off their automatic transponders in contravention of the international convention for the safety of life at the sea. Do these rules apply to the boating lake in Telford Town Park?
On Wednesday,
he highlighted the plight of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa not being able to afford school uniforms and therefore being deprived of an education. A noble cause but unless I'm very much mistaken, Telford is several thousand miles away from Sub-Saharan Africa.
On Thursday,
he asked if the Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs knew that TCAT was doing an excellent job but their funding was being cut next year. The Minister said he will look into the proposed funding cuts at TCAT to see if there is anything untoward.
Keep up the good work Mark.
Labels: Africa, Parliament
Long time no speak...
We're back, blogging on Mark's behalf.
Standby in..5...4...3...2...1...
