Tag Archives: Gordon Birtwhistle

Stephen Tall

Equal marriage: 2 Lib Dem MPs against and a further 9 (or 10) Missing In Action

By Stephen Tall | Mon 4th February 2013 - 3:55 pm

Lynne Featherstone with Same Sex marriage bill - Some rights reserved by Mark PackTomorrow the House of Commons will vote on the Bill to allow equal marriage for same-sex couples which Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone did so much to push forward as Equalities Minister.

Two Lib Dem MPs have so far publicly declared their opposition:

  • John Pugh MP (Southport)

    • “I will vote against the Bill – against Gay Marriage but not necessarily for all the reasons the churches give but because I think there is a good liberal

    …

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    Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 167 Comments
    Paul Walter

    PMQs: The nodding donkey and the nasal twang have left the building

    By Paul Walter | Thu 15th September 2011 - 11:24 am

    It is interesting how voice quality can make all the difference at Prime Minister’s Questions.

    Ed Miliband seems to have swallowed several family packs of Tunes lozenges. His voice sounded unusually clear yesterday, without its normal nasal twang. Combined with a disciplined debating approach, this led to a commanding performance (up to a point – of which more later).

    David Cameron, in contrast, was sounding slightly hoarse. Perhaps he over-indulged in Russian hospitality in some shape or form. The problem with being hoarse at PMQs is that you end up shouting to compensate. That makes it worse and, red-faced, you give …

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    Posted in Parliament and PMQs | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
    Paul Walter

    PMQs: Listen very carefully, I shall wave this shroud only five times

    By Paul Walter | Wed 15th June 2011 - 2:23 pm

    Someone must have told Ed Miliband that he shouldn’t flit around, butterfly-like, between subjects at Prime Minister’s Questions. He did that last week and got a caning for it. So this week he was doggedly persistent – monomaniac even – on just one subject. Indeed, just one question. He repeated the same words over and over and over and over again. The impression was that he had gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, but it worked and he ostensibly wrong-footed David Cameron.

    Ed Miliband said that the government’s welfare reform plans would make 7,000 cancer sufferers worse off by up …

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    Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , , and | 17 Comments



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    • User AvatarPaul Reynolds 25th May - 4:27am
      Drawing conclusions from the melee which includes phone video footage, police and security service statements, and selected witness accounts is probably premature. For example, what...
    • User AvatarPaul Reynolds 25th May - 3:49am
      Policy on this subject matter was passed by Conference about 4 years ago. It was clumsily called 'UK response to Globalisation' or something similar. It...
    • User AvatarAmalric 25th May - 2:19am
      Thank you Geoffrey Payne for your clarification. I agree with you that the 2015 manifesto has to galvanise the membership into action. However I am...
    • User AvatarMatthew Huntbach 25th May - 2:08am
      Richard S Also I have given this example before. Among ethnically Chinese kids living in the UK the pass rate for 5 GCSEs is 78...
    • User AvatarMatthew Huntbach 25th May - 1:59am
      Chris Who knows? I was just pointing out that your previous comment seemed to be concerned with education on another planet (or in another century),...
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