Oaten in print

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Oaten in print

By the founding editor | Wed 28th February 2007 - 9:29 pm

Jonathan Isaby has dug up a nice project of Mark Oaten’s – a book examining governing coalitions past, and future. Sounds like an interesting project. (Shame he was researching it in Portcullis House when he should’ve been representing his constituents.)

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12 Comments

It's a one-horse race 1st Mar '07 - 9:14am

You guys really do know who to crap on people when their chips are down.
Dave McCullough 1st Mar '07 - 1:45pm

Do you think then Rob that no MPs should ever write books?
Rob Fenwick 1st Mar '07 - 1:48pm

Not at all – but if I decided to write a book and sat at my desk at work researching it, don’t you think that’s taking the mick out of my employers?
nicrattle 1st Mar '07 - 2:02pm

He’s being a lot more constructive doing this than speaking to Hello, or sitting in the bar…
Rob Fenwick 1st Mar '07 - 2:06pm

Very true, very true.
Dave McCullough 1st Mar '07 - 2:07pm

So when should he do it? weekends? too busy meeting his constituents at Church fetes and other such boring events that (lib Dem) MPs give up their weekends for….
Rob Fenwick 1st Mar '07 - 2:09pm

Dave, I think you’re suggesting that he has absolutely no free time at all, and I don’t entirely buy that 😉 Of course he’s entitled to write a book if he wants to, but what’s he doing writing it while he’s being paid by his constituents to represent them? He’s already said he’s not going to contest the next election – when better to write a book than when you’ve finished the job the electorate voted you in to do?
Dave McCullough 1st Mar '07 - 2:30pm

you wouldn’t be making these cómments if it was Simon….
Rob Fenwick 1st Mar '07 - 2:35pm

Oh I don’t know about that, I don’t think I’m comfortable with the idea of any MP pursuing personal projects in parliamentary time on the parliamentary estate – is that so outrageous? Maybe I’m being unreasonable…

Speaking of which, I came off lunch five minutes ago, so back to work!
Rob Fenwick 1st Mar '07 - 2:47pm

PS, I confess I did rather f**k up in expressing an opinion when posting this story – the news reporting is supposed to be neutral. Apologies.
Hywel Morgan 1st Mar '07 - 8:48pm

I just don’t see how you would police it. Plenty of MPs have written books and I can’t believe they all of all of them was done off of the Parliamentary estate.

More interestingly might be if an MP was using Parliamentary resources (eg House of Commons library) to research information for a private project.

In that case I wonder if you could make a case that it was written in the course of his employment and the copyright therefore belonged to his employer – the UK people :-):-):-)
Olly Kendall 3rd Mar '07 - 1:10pm

if you look at the register of members interests it is a litany of ‘extra-curricular’ work much if which appears to be politically unrelated moonlighting (most notably non-executive directorships) so i think authoring a book about coalition, de facto, the possible diemma our politiicans face at the next GE is a worthwhile pursuit (whether it’s done over a bagel in portcullis or in the hills of winchester) 🙂