Today in Parliament the Liberal Democrats are tabling an Early Day Motion to dock Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s pay over his handling of the Afghanistan crisis.
They are also calling for the Government to use the money saved to fund the resettlement of Afghan refugees, following reports of a £557m shortfall in resettlement funding.
Commenting on the motion, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said:
Dominic Raab is one of the worst Foreign Secretaries in British history.
He has presided over the worst foreign policy disaster since the Suez and decided to spend more time on the beach instead of picking up the phone to help vulnerable Afghans.
His continued dithering and delays has put lives at risk. Therefore it’s only right that his pay be docked for failing to do his job properly.
By repurposing his Ministerial salary, we can fund 10 Afghan refugees to resettle and build a new life here in the UK. This is a much better use of taxpayers’ money.
The text of the motion is as follows;
That this House censures the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for his handling of the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has put the lives of Afghan interpreters in grave danger; and believes that if the Prime Minister is not prepared to dismiss him, the Secretary of State’s Ministerial salary should be removed for the rest of this Parliament because of this dereliction of duty.
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22 Comments
Playing games is hardly going to impress. Personally, I wouldn’t pay Raaaab in washers. That said, I have a strong feeling that, like a few other ministers, he might not be long in his present jobs anyway.
Presumably if this were to be done to him he would resign?
Does the Prime Minister have the power to reduce the salaries of Ministers of the Crown?
I thought April 1st was months ago? Why play these silly games? It just shows that the party lacks gravitas..
That said, if all those ministers who have failed had their pay docked, we could resettle every Afghan who wants ‘out’..
I don’t think it is an Early Day Motion that is being tabled.
It’s not about playing silly games – it’s about operating in a very silly parliamentary structure. Until a written constitution sweeps all this nonsense away, working within silly rules goes with the territory.
“Until a written constitution sweeps all this nonsense away, working within silly rules goes with the territory.”
Seconded
Playground politics. Please can our Parliamentarians grow up.
@Geoff Reid, Nonconformistradical
Do you not think moving a Vote of No Confidence would be a more sensible way of advancing the issue? I would suggest that any written constitution would likely make provision for No Confidence votes so that is not the issue in this case. I fear that this is a case of the Liberal Democrat leadership believing that a ‘docking pay’ motion will get more publicity than the more sensible alternative. I’m never convinced that trading credibility for publicity is a smart strategy in the long run.
expats
‘I thought April 1st was months ago? Why play these silly games? It just shows that the party lacks gravitas..
That said, if all those ministers who have failed had their pay docked, we could resettle every Afghan who wants ‘out’..’
Students asking for Lib Dem politicians to have their pay docked for the tripling of tuition fees would surely be at the front of the queue.
Agree this motion is just very childish & makes Lib Dem MP’S look ridiculous..
There has been over the years repeated criticism in the media about people in high positions of responsibility, e.g. senior bankers and company directors, being paid for failure.
I’m not sure a motion of no confidence would be noticed but handled the right way a motion to dock Raab’s pay could be used to reinforce the message that failure should not pay.
Seriously? I mean SERIOUSLY! I am lurking and thinking of joining the party and this???? If Ed authoris this God help you!!!!! Bring back Tim….for all his Christianity, be or Jo or do a thing and bring back Paddy, but this???? NO!!!!!!
Brad Barrows 6th Sep ’21 – 8:13pm…………@Geoff Reid, Nonconformistradical
Do you not think moving a Vote of No Confidence would be a more sensible way of advancing the issue?……
Agreed! When speaking, in the house, a question of, “Does the minister not feel embarassed at taking his salary, etc..” would have far more effect
@John Oundle
‘Students asking for Lib Dem politicians to have their pay docked for the tripling of tuition fees would surely be at the front of the queue.’
I would ask you to refer back to the record. In the relevant Commons vote it was a minority of LibDem MPs that actually voted to triple the fees – almost entirely people who would have had to resign from government jobs if they had done so.
As opposed, of course, to all those Labour MPs who had supported tripling the fees a few years earlier.
Todays students are practically ALL those who got themselves to university after the current fee regime was imposed. Many who were MPs in 2010-15 aren’t at Westminster any more either.
For the last five years, I have been telling people that Brexit was the worst British Foreign Policy blunder since the Suez Crisis. I still think it was worse, and has potential to do more lasting damage to the UK, than the admittedly messy and mismanaged 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
If you want to mix it with the big boys (sorry ladies; but it usually IS big BOYS) then you’d better act like one and stop playing silly games (as I wrote to start this thread yesterday morning). I’m pleased to see many LDV contributors seem to agree.
Oh dear. Yet more playground politics. It would be unfair and unreasonable if Raab were the only Western politician to be censured over Afghanistan.
It is sad to see the LibDems struggle for relevance, when the Government and the Opposition are in such poor shape.
@John Marriott
A party with a handful or two of MPs, which doesn’t reflect its number of voters, is not one of the ‘big boys’ and is reduced to seizing any opportunity it can to make its mark in media or at Parliament.
Dominic Raab is an open goal, as he is revealed as a Secretary of State which can neither oversee the organisation of a Summer Holiday rota nor the delegation of authority to do his department’s job in the absence of its chief.
And back in his constituency, he is vulnerable to LibDem challenge.
@Jim Webber
“It would be unfair and unreasonable if Raab were the only Western politician to be censured over Afghanistan.”
However it is Raab who as UK foreign secretary is the one with (or who should have) the sign on his desk stating “The buck stops here”.
I’m pleased as Punch at the lampooning of the most useless and dangerous British politician in living memory. Dangerous indeed for shamelessly putting at risk thousands of families left behind in Kabul. Including abandoning some good friends of mine who remain trapped in Kabul.
Whilst this move could be described as ‘playing games’, it is in fact part of a long parliamentary traditional way of pressing a point on a government.
One of the most famous occasions was when it brought down a Liberal Government. Those with an enquiring (or historical mind) should look up the ‘Cordite Vote’.
Mandating him to wear a burqa for a week wouldn’t be much dafter.
Initially I also felt like many subscribers that this was too gimmicky for words. However on reflection I am more sympathetic to the leadership. They are under constant pressure to gain publicity for the party and seemingly no amount of earnest treaties so loved by the devotees of LDV seem to ” cut the mustard” May be not a gimmick a day, but just now and then!