Valid points.
Looks like we're stuck with it.

I saw some of the comment about this posted on the Guardian rolling politics blog. A couple of things stood out.

First whoever it was speaking for the government, they reckoned they had done a better job if it then IDS ever would as they reckon IDS would have totally lost it pretty early on in the debate. This made me think IDS didn't run away to Paris but was sent there to be kept out of harms way!

Secondly, despite the liability that is IDS not being present Labour still carried the day morally with their arguments with the Interventions by MP's supporting their motion particularly telling. This one stood out:



From [url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/12/ed-daveys-speech-to-energy-firms-telling-them-not-to-be-greedy-politics-live-bloghere[/url

With cases like that the fact the majority of Lib Dems still voted as they did shows they simply can't be trusted. They lied before the election and now despite obvious cases such as the one above and their own conferences rejection of the bedroom tax they still vote for it.

Whatever is in a 2015 Lib Dem manifesto simply can't be believed.

I am so looking forward to when that fat bastad David Heath hits the campaign trail in 2015

Now I know yesterday's debate didn't concern pubs or real ale but does Jerry Chicken know how his LimpDem MP voted?

Yep, he abstained.

Which didn't surprise me as he's abstained on quite a few issues in the past, as did many other LibDems, haven't read his blog yet but the last issue that he abstained on (can't remember what it was) was explained by the fact that he was broadly in favour of the vote but did not like the way the legislation was worded.

Its disappointing that he doesn't vote the way you as an individual want him to but it is a tactic that his party use quite frequently.

It won't matter.
His manlove bonding with Gregory is unbreakable.

An MP who campaigns for better beer for everyone and is a big RL fan, whats not to like ?

Good enough reasons as any, I'd agree.
Far bigger t0sspots in that party to be concerned with.

[url=http://gregmulholland.org/en/article/2013/744620/greg-mulholland-mp-tables-liberal-democrat-backbench-motion-calling-for-an-urgent-review-and-change-or-scrapping-of-the-flawed-under-occupancy-penalty-policyThis is most strange[/url why go to all that trouble and then abstain, I await his explanation.

I suppose the moral of the story is "seek and ye shall find" or stuff...

The motion that was voted on earlier this week was an Opposition Day motion, winning this vote would not have affected anything other than to show opposition, it wouldn't have forced a re-think of the rules/law - Greg Mulholland took a bit of flak on twitter the other night after his abstaining and this was his response...





The Early Day Motion that he put his name to is on the same subject but not connected to the Opposition Day vote.

Still sounds a bit strange to me but to a politician I'm sure it all makes perfect sense.

He didn't abstain on the Opposition motion, he abstained on the government amendment.

Basically the opposition proposal was:

“That this House regrets the pernicious effect on vulnerable and in many cases disabled people of deductions being made from housing benefit paid to working age tenants in the social housing sector deemed to have an excess number of bedrooms in their homes…”

The government then amended it to:

“Line 1, leave out from ‘House’ to end and add ‘notes the substantial structural deficit which was inherited from the previous Government and the need to get the nation’s finances back into shape; further notes the need to bring expenditure on housing benefit under control; further notes that the reversal of this policy would cost the Exchequer around half a billion pounds a year…”

Amendments are always voted first and as can be seen, the government managed to get a vote on "it's all Labour's fault", rather than the proposed motion.

So basically Mullholland abstained from blaming Labour for the nation's financial state.

What a waste of a fecking day

More like a waste of five years.

It'll soon be over though.