I began business questions this week by marking Holocaust Memorial Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
I welcomed the plans for a new holocaust memorial in this country that will honour the memory of all the victims. The anniversary must also motivate us to redouble our efforts to combat anti-semitism and other forms of prejudice, including racism, homophobia and religious hatred, which are on the rise across the world today.
One thing that was missing from this week’s business was any reference to plain packaging for cigarettes. After the government supported it, the House of Commons then backed it, the government then changed their mind and opposed it, but last week the health minister u-turned on the u-turn in a late night commons debate, presumably when she thought tobacco lobbyist Lynton Crosby wasn’t looking. Given the reports that more than half of Conservative backbenchers are willing to rebel against their own side and oppose plain packaging, the government will once more be relying on Labour votes to protect public health.
With days to spare the government finally appointed someone to review their gagging law, the Lobbying Act, which is having a chilling effect on free speech in time for the election. But it turns out that they’ve appointed a Conservative peer who did not once vote against the government on the act in the Lords and who voted with them on some of its worst aspects.
Yesterday, Harriet Harman was forced to write to the culture secretary about the disgraceful and overt political bias of another Conservative peer, the supposedly impartial deputy chair of Ofcom. Given that Ofcom has today said that Baroness Noakes’s vicious anti Labour comments were clearly inappropriate, I’m unsure why she is still in her job.
Ultimately these appointments seem to have little to do with impartiality or integrity and much more to do with membership of the Conservative party.
This week, the Liberal Democrat transport minister, Baroness Kramer, turned up in Taipei on a rail mission with a very special gift. Local journalists looked on in horror as she gave the city’s mayor a watch, which is taboo in local culture because it suggests that the recipient’s time is running out. She should have given it to her party leader. The mayor was less than impressed saying, ‘I can just re-gift it to someone else or take it to a metal dealer and sell it for cash’.
I just wish we could get as much use out of other Lib Dem offerings.
Someone else who has been struggling with timepieces is the invisible man, the Tory chief whip Michael Gove. In Cabinet, he inadvertently interrupted the chancellor with a sudden musical outburst. His cabinet colleagues looked on in horror as Beyoncé’s latest hit began blasting from the chief whip’s new smartwatch. Any watch that is smart enough to play Beyoncé should surely be able to tell him when business questions is.
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Angela Eagle is member of parliament for Wallasey, shadow leader of the House of Commons and writes the weekly Business of Parliament column for Progress. She tweets @AngelaEagle
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