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Still not the Yorkshire Post - just smarter |
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Written by Austin Mitchell
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28 October 2005 |
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Last week’s vote on ID cards and particularly the amendment to make them voluntary had the whips rattled to a degree I’ve not seen before and unnecessarily as it turned out.
For the first time there were heavy appeals to loyalty and the kind of "see us through this and we’ll promise this, that and the other".
It worked with me, though I thought the ID card should be compulsory to make it more unpopular with more people more quickly. The whole business reminded me of the top-up fees legislation: it passed by five votes because of heavy persuasion. The whips conveyed a special message from Tony to Tony Banks, "Vote for the bill and we’ll abolish fox hunting this session". Kate Hoey got the opposite message from the same channels and again direct from Tony, "Vote for this and we’ll ensure that hunting isn’t abolished."
No lies here. In the event both promises were fulfilled. Hunting was abolished. And it’s still going on. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything to demand in return for my vote this time. |
