Bob Piper has been a Labour Councillor for the Abbey
Ward in Sandwell, West Midlands, for 10 years. He is a lifelong supporter of Aston Villa Football Club and a follower of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
The views expressed here are mine in a personal capacity, not those of the Labour Party, Sandwell MBC, Aston Villa or Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Get it! Mine... just mine!
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Promoted by Bob Piper of 115 Barclay Rd, B67 5JZ on behalf of the Labour Party, care of 39 Victoria Street London, SW1H 0HA . Hosted (printed) by Swaithe Internet Solutions who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.
Please note however, that The Labour Party is not responsible for the content of this website or individual posts as, unless specifically stated, I am writing solely in a personal and individual capacity.
Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming is upset that a point he raised about bus deregulation at PMQs resulted in Gordon Brown "taking the piss" out of him.
Now, whilst Hemming sometimes makes it easy to take the piss out of him, and I must confess at this point... I've done a bit of it here too... on this occasion I think he is correct.
PMQs is a farce anyway, with staged managed punch-ups between the Party Leaders interspersed with planted questions from backbenchers. But when a Member attempts to highlight an issue from within their constituency which is causing concern, they deserve a bit of respect.
I hope, as you have stated before, that you would `gently `take the piss out of people. The perils of `taking the piss` out of mere mortals, does not do well on the doorstep.
Voter, I think you're right. But also there's a diffence between chiding someone and trying to humiliate them, and I think GB crossed that line. He could easily had a bit of fun at John Hemming's expense, but 'taking the piss' by ignoring the constituents' concerns doesn't work for me.
By all means ignore the planted piss take questions, but not genuine issues that matter to the voters.
I believe this is the second time this year that he appears to have treated genuine local concerns with contempt, the other one being the parlous state of a dam again I believe in the West Midlands. Is there something about this part of the world he does not like? Or are matters such as these beneath the saviour of the world?
Bob the Black Country Brummie said:
February 5, 2010 10:51 AM | permalink
I thought GB’s response to John Hemmings bang out of order. It is this apparent indifference to Birmingham & West Mids that make him such a despised PM. If that had been a London or Scots MP the response would have been totally different. He did not win any friends in this neck of the woods. Why does he try to be so sarcastic? Up to that point he was winning and then he blew it for me.
February 4, 2010 2:16 PM | permalink
Thank you on behalf of my constituents to whom this is an important issue - as with many bus passengers.