The blame for the current recession seems to have landed squarely on the shoulders of one Gordon Brown, with perhaps a small amount being apportioned to Mr Darling, with a certain A. Blair escaping pretty much unscathed. However in my opinion the overwhelming majority of labour MPs have been soulless yes men, more concerned about their careers as politicians than the future of the UK. They must have been able to see the folly of the government's economic policy long ago but kept silent. The Government's failure is a testament to their cowardice. Their pitiful sheeplike performance during labour's years in government will be duly rewarded with political oblivion, hopefully permanent. Their careers, which they sought to protect by never protesting against the government, will be over.
Below is a roll call of the current Cabinet members. The percentage of the member's votes which went against the Government's position is shown, aswell as the number of times the y rebelled and the total number of votes in which they participated. Their spinelessness should haunt them through the rest of their working lives.
Cabinet loyalty for current parliment
Total votes for this parliament 996 (as of 30 March 2009)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service
The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
0.7% (1 of 146 votes)
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
0.9% (4 of 464 votes)
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP
0.6% (3 of 501 votes)
Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor
The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
1.3% (8 of 626 votes)
Secretary of State for the Home Department
The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP
0.6% (5 of 775 votes)
Secretary of State for Defence
The Rt Hon John Hutton MP
1.0% (7 of 672 votes)
Secretary of State for Health
The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP
1.0% (7 of 682 votes)
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
0.4% (3 of 670 votes)
Secretary of State for International Development
The Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP
0.5% (3 of 582 votes)
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Rt Hon Peter Mandelson
No information
Leader of the House of Commons (and Lord Privy Seal); Minister for Women; and Labour Party Chair
The Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP
0.7% (5 of 775 votes)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Rt Hon James Purnell MP
0.7 % (6 of 823 votes)
Secretary of State for Transport
The Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP
0.5% (4 of 759 votes)
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP
0.4% (3 of 749 votes)
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
The Rt Hon Ed Balls MP
0.9% (7 of 819 votes)
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
0.4% (3 of 844 votes)
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP
1.3% (10 of 788 votes)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Rt Hon Shaun Woodward MP
0.5% (3 of 552 votes)
Leader of the House of Lords (and Lord President of the Council)
The Rt Hon Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
No information
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
1.2% (9 of 737 votes)
Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
The Rt Hon John Denham MP
1.0% (7 of 715 votes)
Secretary of State for Wales
The Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP
2.2% (17 of 781 votes)
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP
1.5% (11 of 728 votes)
From The Public Whip website
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mps.php
Not all Labour MPs have been so spineless though, the name Frank Field springs to mind as an example of a Labour politician with a conscience, someone who is proud of being British and is sceptical of the benefits of the EU and immigration. He is one of the few who deserves to survive the upcoming election with his seat in parliament intact.
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No offence, but this is not a big surprise. In modern, career driven politics dissent is not permitted. You mention Frank Field as one of the few Labour dissenters, but how many Tories can you point to? How many on the front bench? To be fair, this is partly driven by the media who leap on any sign of dissent as symptomatic of a party split - which it rarely is. As a result the parties stifle the debate to avoid dissent. Without debate, politics is worthless.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't be a big shock to me if I was to find out that the Shadow Cabinet members were just as unlikely to step out of line. The fact is though that Labour are in power and have done an immense amount of damage to the country. You might have noticed from previous posts that I'm not thrilled with the prospect of a Cameron government.
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