24 May 2021 • 7:34pm
John Whittingdale, a Culture minister, answered an Urgent Question in the Commons about the BBC
Credit: John Nguyen/JNVisuals
Throughout its history the BBC has sought to bring people from different backgrounds together. It certainly managed it today (Monday) in the House of Commons. Because, in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal, MPs from all parties were united in revulsion.
“Utterly damning,” snapped Julian Knight, a Tory. “Many people will have been disgusted,” glowered Steve McCabe, from Labour. “Disgraceful,” seethed Gregory Campbell, of the DUP.
It truly was a rare and special occasion. For 45 minutes, practically everyone in the Commons seemed to agree with each other.
13 April 2021 • 5:32pm
David Cameron faces an inquiry into his efforts to lobby ministers on behalf of Greensill Capital
Credit: Kate Green/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
By sheer coincidence, it’s exactly five years ago this week that Dennis Skinner – the veteran Labour MP for Bolsover – was thrown out of the Commons for referring to David Cameron as “Dodgy Dave”. The Speaker at the time, John Bercow, considered it unparliamentary for an MP to fling around such a baseless insult.
What a pity for Mr Skinner that he lost his seat at the 2019 election. If he’d been sitting in the Commons today (Tuesday), he could have called Mr Cameron anything he liked.