Where's Mum? Or rather - where was my MP yesterday?

Did you ask your MP to speak up and attend yesterday's debate on puppy and kitten farming?
I know I did (still no reply from Mr Gove or his assistant....).
According to Hansard, only 54 MPs out of the 650 we elected spoke - and by the looks of this photo, everyone who was there said something as I can't see 54 people in this photo! 

And one of those MPs only said two sentences - one of which was to say that his own dogs didn't love him! 

Here is a photo of the streaming of the debate... can you spot your MP? 



At least some MPs understood that this was something of major significance - that their constituents really cared about.

Conservative Justin Tomlinson said: "Interestingly, my Facebook page with the article on the campaign attracted over 60,000 views and 534 shares, which is 10 times more than for anything I have done before."

(Isn't that a depressing revelation! Any decent post on our Facebook page gets many more views, shares and likes. How disenfranchised are we? Have we given up on our politicians?)

Why did so few MPs turn out?
While it was sweet to hear some of the MPs telling us the names of their dogs and one begging his Pugs to be judged kindly at the next Westminster Dog of the Year show, it was all rather patronising really when dogs and cats are dying and owners are suffering. 
And the van loads of underage, illegal puppies roll in unchecked from Eastern Europe -pouring into our ports and into our pet shops and on to the Internet.

A small group of MPs saying 'we really must do something and lets talk about this some more' didn't help me sleep better at nights, how about you?

A few had bothered to do some research, Caroline Lucas of the Green Party was very impressive... but maybe almost everyone else was just terrified that if they said something meaningful they may actually end up in position where they might actually have to implement something...!

A few issues ago I wrote about forming our own Puppy Party and fielding some candidates at the next election. Coming up with a proper Dogifesto that at the very least would give those MPs with an appetite for tackling the dog problems in society a clear vision of what to do. Let's do a UKIP and get a much-ignored policy higher up the political agenda so everyone wants to get involved.

If you are keen for change and would either like to stand as a candidate or to help canvas support and join the party, do email me with all your details as I fear even with a massive petition delivered to Downing Street, and this parliamentary debate, any real progress on dog issues still seems a very, very distant dream. 

Put 'Puppy Party' in the subject and email beverley@dogstodaymagazine.co.uk

Listening to that debate was at times almost as excruciating as it must have been for the poor person who marked my Chemistry mock O level all those years ago. 

I confess I had done no revision as I knew I was going to be bunking off to go to Crufts.
But the teachers (who saw Crufts on the TV and had had long ago spotted I took days off sick at this time every year) had surprised me by making me sit the exam on my own the first morning I returned to school. 

I was in trouble, I had no residual interest in the subject at all so had to cram if I was ever to pass. 

Faced with a blank page I just peppered my paper with chemical sounding things. 

I just felt that several of those MPs were standing up doing just as I had... filling in the dead space by telling us anecdotes about their pets in a similar unprepared way to the way I had waffled through that exam... 

It was not good enough for my mock O level and it certainly was not good enough for the dogs (and cats) of Britain.

Here's who spoke by party:
31 Conservatives
16 Labour
3 Lib Dems
2 Labour/Co-op
1 Green
1 Plaid Cymru

Can you find your MP? Do drop them a line if not and encourage those that did turn up.


Albert Owen
(Ynys Môn)
Labour
Alec Shelbrooke
(Elmet and Rothwell)
Conservative
AlisonSeabeck
(Plymouth,MoorView)
Labour
Angela Smith
(Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Labour
Bill Wiggin
(North Herefordshire)
Conservative
Bob Stewart
(Beckenham)
Conservative
Caroline Lucas
(Brighton, Pavilion)
Green
Daniel Kawczynski
(Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Conservative
Derek Twigg
(Halton)
Labour
Dr Julian Lewis
(New Forest East)
Conservative
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon) Conservative
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
(The Cotswolds)
Conservative
Guy Opperman
(Hexham)
Conservative
Heather Wheeler
(South Derbyshire)
Conservative
Ian Lucas
(Wrexham)
Labour
Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen Conservative
Jeremy Corbyn
(Islington North)
Labour
Jim Fitzpatrick
(Poplar and Limehouse)
Labour
John McDonnell
(Hayes and Harlington)
Labour
Jonathan Edwards
(Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
PC
Jonathan Reynolds
(Stalybridge and Hyde)
Labour/co op
Justin Tomlinson
(North Swindon
Conservative
Kerry McCarthy
(Bristol East)
Labour
Kevin Brennan
(Cardiff West)
Labour
Mark Pritchard
(The Wrekin)
Conservative
Meg Munn
(Sheffield, Heeley)
Labour/co op
Michael Fabricant
(Lichfield
Conservative
Miss Anne McIntosh
(Thirsk and Malton)
Conservative
Mr Andrew Turner
(Isle of Wight)
Conservative
Mr David Amess
(Southend West)
Conservative
Mr David Burrowes
(Enfield, Southgate)
Conservative
Mr Dominic Raab
(Esher and Walton)
Conservative
Mr Geoffrey Robinson
(Coventry North West)
Labour
Mr George Howarth
(Knowsley)
Labour
Mr Henry Bellingham
(North West Norfolk)
Conservative
Mr John Redwood
(Wokingham)
Conservative
Mrs Sharon Hodgson
(Washington and Sunderland West)
Labour
Neil Parish
(Tiverton and Honiton)
Conservative
Nicola Blackwood
(Oxford West and Abingdon)
Conservative
Oliver Colvile
(Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Conservative
Pat Glass
(North West Durham)
Labour
Paul Burstow
(Sutton and Cheam)
LD
Richard Graham
(Gloucester)
Conservative
Richard Harrington
(Watford
Conservative
Robert Flello
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
Labour
Robert Neill
(Bromley and Chislehurst
Conservative
Roger Williams
(Brecon and Radnorshire)
LD
Simon Kirby
(Brighton, Kemptown)
Conservative
Sir Edward Leigh
(Gainsborough)
Conservative
Sir Roger Gale
(North Thanet)
Conservative
Stephen Lloyd
(Eastbourne
LD
Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) Labour
Tim Loughton
(East Worthing and Shoreham)
Conservative
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park) Conservative

by ward:
(Beckenham)
Conservative
Bob Stewart
(Birmingham, Selly Oak) Labour Steve McCabe
(Brecon and Radnorshire)
LD
Roger Williams
(Brighton, Kemptown)
Conservative
Simon Kirby
(Brighton, Pavilion)
Green
Caroline Lucas
(Bristol East)
Labour
Kerry McCarthy
(Bromley and Chislehurst
Conservative
Robert Neill
(Cardiff West)
Labour
Kevin Brennan
(Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
PC
Jonathan Edwards
(Coventry North West)
Labour
Mr Geoffrey Robinson
(East Worthing and Shoreham)
Conservative
Tim Loughton
(Eastbourne
LD
Stephen Lloyd
(Elmet and Rothwell)
Conservative
Alec Shelbrooke
(Enfield, Southgate)
Conservative
Mr David Burrowes
(Esher and Walton)
Conservative
Mr Dominic Raab
(Gainsborough)
Conservative
Sir Edward Leigh
(Gloucester)
Conservative
Richard Graham
(Halton)
Labour
Derek Twigg
(Hayes and Harlington)
Labour
John McDonnell
(Hendon) Conservative Dr Matthew Offord
(Hexham)
Conservative
Guy Opperman
(Isle of Wight)
Conservative
Mr Andrew Turner
(Islington North)
Labour
Jeremy Corbyn
(Knowsley)
Labour
Mr George Howarth
(Lichfield
Conservative
Michael Fabricant
(New Forest East)
Conservative
Dr Julian Lewis
(North Herefordshire)
Conservative
Bill Wiggin
(North Swindon
Conservative
Justin Tomlinson
(North Thanet)
Conservative
Sir Roger Gale
(North West Durham)
Labour
Pat Glass
(North West Norfolk)
Conservative
Mr Henry Bellingham
(Oxford West and Abingdon)
Conservative
Nicola Blackwood
(Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Labour
Angela Smith
(Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Conservative
Oliver Colvile
(Plymouth,MoorView)
Labour
AlisonSeabeck
(Poplar and Limehouse)
Labour
Jim Fitzpatrick
(Richmond Park) Conservative Zac Goldsmith
(Rossendale and Darwen Conservative Jake Berry
(Sheffield, Heeley)
Labour/co op
Meg Munn
(Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Conservative
Daniel Kawczynski
(South Derbyshire)
Conservative
Heather Wheeler
(Southend West)
Conservative
Mr David Amess
(Stalybridge and Hyde)
Labour/co op
Jonathan Reynolds
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
Labour
Robert Flello
(Sutton and Cheam)
LD
Paul Burstow
(The Cotswolds)
Conservative
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
(The Wrekin)
Conservative
Mark Pritchard
(Thirsk and Malton)
Conservative
Miss Anne McIntosh
(Tiverton and Honiton)
Conservative
Neil Parish
(Washington and Sunderland West)
Labour
Mrs Sharon Hodgson
(Watford
Conservative
Richard Harrington
(Wokingham)
Conservative
Mr John Redwood
(Wrexham)
Labour
Ian Lucas
(Ynys Môn)
Labour
Albert Owen

Have a read of the transcript here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmhansrd/chan32.pdf (page 23 onwards).



Comments

Popular Posts