Poor Jeremy Purvis. The Liberal Democrat peer found himself mentioned in comedian John Oliver’s US show Last Week Tonight. Oliver was telling Americans about the Tories’ defeat in the House of Lords over tax credits and in doing so had a good go at its archaic traditions – and mentioned that it even had a member called Lord Purvis of Tweed. What he didn’t, of course, mention, is that Lord Purvis of Tweed was most definitely on the side of the angels over tax credits and that if his party’s proposals had gone through, the proposals would have been killed off completely.
Just to make it all a bit worse, some media outlets described Jeremy as “Lord Pervis.”
Watch the clip here:
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6 Comments
Was this really worth posting on LDV? Comedian makes fun of House of Lords and chooses (presumably at random) title of a Lib Dem peer to lampoon. Big deal.
Just because the House of Peers did right on this occasion – not for the first time – and has a lot of Lib Dem members (rather embarrassingly so) we must not try to defend it against those who understandably view it as a target for ridicule.
It is worth posting if only for another joke about piggate.
Interesting. Caused me to find out a bit about John Oliver, who despite his lower middle-class English accent, is a product of the Cambridge Footlights and Jeremy Purvis, who seems an all round LibDem good egg and former MSP.
I doubt most people will have given the reference to him a second thought.
Of course, Scots and LibDems could take great offence about the mocking of a title based on a Scottish dale and river, get up a noisy demo outside the premises of HBO in the UK (where are they?) and notify the media… I rather think not.
Let’s retaliate by thinking of something ridiculous in the US to highlight. Erm…can’t think of anything.
@simon banks. How about the Warren Commission for starters ?
Very disappointed that the powers that be allowed this item on to LDV – it is far more lacking in respect than some previous postings allowed on the site – and particularly disappointing because it refers to a well respected hard working former MSP. As a member in Scotland – I am disappointed that no mention yet of the Trident vote in Holyrood last week – and not one Lib Dem MP in the H of C today during the Scotland Bill debate.