“And the winner is…”

Newcomer of the Year
Dominic Raab MP

Select Committee Chairman of the Year
Andrew Tyrie MP

Campaigner of the Year
Dr Stella Creasy MP

Inquisitor of the Year
John Whittingdale OBE MP on behalf of the CMS Select Committee

Backbencher of the Year
Adam Holloway MP

Double Act of the Year
The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP & The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

Speech of the Year
Charles Walker MP

Survivor of the Year
The Rt Hon Chris Huhne MP

Readers’ Representative of the Year
Philip Davies MP

Minister of the Year
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Politician of the Year
The Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP

Parliamentarian of the Year
The Rt Hon Baroness Williams of Crosby PC

Discuss…

Before anyone gets overexcited about the 83.7% of GMB union members voting to strike, lets take a wee reality check.

The turnout was a mere 33%. So in reality just 27.6% of the members voted to strike.

Just over one in four members want to walk out. But hasn’t stopped the spin…

UPDATE:

Guido,

Following one of your stories today, you may be interested to know that, as a UNISON member, the first I found out about the date of the ballot was when the results were announced on the news. I had not received a ballot, and I was not even emailed by a UNISON representative in order to alert me to the fact that a ballot was doing the rounds. Upon returning to work following the ballot results, I contacted my representative to be told that I “should have checked the website”. I protested that I did not have time to do this every day and further asked why it was that we were not emailed to inform us of the ballotting when the mass email system had been previously used for such major occurrences as that same representatives standing down from (and returning to) his position a year or two ago.

No response.

I emailed my concerns onto the UNISON Head and Deputy Head of my organisation several days ago.

No response.

Anonymity appreciated on this one please. I’m genuinely a little concerned about all of this and don’t want to ruffle any more feathers than I already have what with swingeing cuts and all of that malarkey.

Tory MP David Morris is looking for no more tears when it comes to hairdressing. This is head and shoulders above any recent Ten Minute Rule Bills: the former hair-stylist is looking to create a compulsory register of fellow hairdressers. The rocker-turned-snipper-turned-backbencher is apparently worried about corrosive chemicals, but Guido was fairly certain the government is meant to be trimming red-tape. Apparently  parliamentary time is worth it…

It was only a matter of time before England Rugby manager Martin Johnson was forced out of the job.

Jonah strikes again.

Via @nickpearcey

There may not have been Prime Minister’s Questions today, but Guido wouldn’t want you to miss out on your weekly dose of Parliamentary bashing. Over to Nick Clegg, who has clearly been reading Guido’s work on Cash for Votes and Sadiq Khan’s dodgy connections with the GMB:

See how they squirm…

Video via Liar Politicians

Neville Thurlbeck has lobbed his grenade into the unravelling News of the World saga. He claims that he was continually blocked from showing a dossier of evidence about phone-hacking to senior staff:

“I requested that I be allowed to show my dossier to Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive officer at News International. I do not wish to embarrass the executive who warned me away from Rebekah’s door, for he is still in harness at News International and I regard him as nothing more sinister than an amiable buffoon. A Polonius-type figure in this drama. In short, a ‘yes man’ with a file perpetually tucked beneath his arm.”

Who is the amiable buffoon is the obvious question, as is why didn’t Thurlbeck just walk into Brooks’ office with the damning papers and tapes?

Tom Crone and Colin Myler do not come out of the, somewhat pompous, Press Gazette article at all well though. Thurlbeck lands the blame firmly at their door for hiding evidence from James Murdoch, which ultimately led to the demise of the paper. He has some rum words for Tom Watson too. Well worth a read for one side of the story, but he certainly has an axe to grind…

*For those wondering about where that picture came from, this is also well worth a read. Not safe for work!

A worried co-conspirator gets in touch with a Unison strike action ballot paper. This was sent out to a former Unison member despite the fact that they no longer work in the public sector. They left eighteen-months ago and no longer pay dues to the union. Either one of those things alone should have ruled him out of voting on strike action…

Right at the bottom of the forms sent out, in the smallest print on the whole page, is a reference to people “leaving employment before 30 November” not being “entitled to vote and should not do so”, however Guido can see no way that this would be verified or checked if these ballots are being sent to all and sundry.

The legitimacy of strike ballots is often questioned in terms of turnout and percentage of the vote, but this potential of widespread fraud goes way beyond that…

This morning we  learn that youth unemployment has hit 1.016 million. Luckily it is a Wednesday, so there is the perfect opportunity to hold the Prime Minister and the government to account in the House at noon. But hold on, what’s this:

“The House of Commons adjourned on Tuesday 15 November for the Autumn recess. The Commons will return on Monday 21 November.” 

Nick Clegg admits…

“This is not the right time to ask our hard-pressed taxpayers to pay out more to political parties at a time when they are having to deal with so many cuts and savings elsewhere.”

The former head of the UK Border Force was on fiery form at the select committee yesterday, but he let slip on his follow-up Today programme appearance this morning: “I should have more thoroughly checked out what the Home Secretary knew or did not know.” Cue sighs of relief from May’s office…

And it doesn’t stop there. The Mail have got hold of the draft findings of one of the three investigations into Clark and his actions. Apparently it reveals:

“…fingerprint checks on foreign nationals who need a visa to enter the UK were relaxed on 164 occasions. This was despite the Home Secretary explicitly saying that, even in ‘extremis’, this must not happen in case it allowed those from terrorist hotspots such as the Yemen to enter unchecked.”

In other words – a rogue agent. A lot of noise has been made about the word rogue being briefed out about Clark, but on the back of this it seems pretty accurate…