A week after uproar in the Commons over the vote on the European Arrest Warrant that was or wasn’t a vote, depending on what you fancied believing, Theresa May faced MPs at Home Office questions where she was rather quickly pulled up on that debacle. Shadow Home Office minister David Hanson asked why the House of Lords did get a vote on the European Arrest Warrant when MPs were denied the opportunity last week. May replied:
‘I have to say to the right honourable gentleman that I was very clear and in fact we spent quite a considerable time last Wednesday discussing the motion that had been brought forward by the government, we were very clear that motion would be binding on the government in relation to the package of 35 measures, the regulations are now being discussed by the House of Lords.
‘Sadly of course this House was not able to have a full opportunity to debate these matters last week because the right honourable lady, the Shadow Home Secretary chose to move a closure motion to stop debate.’
That’s not really true, for the reasons set out here, though Yvette Cooper certainly did make matters much more difficult for the government after it had already botched the job. But never mind. Let’s move on to the next thing that is Labour’s fault.
Steve McCabe asked about turnout in Police and Crime Commissioner by-elections. Mike Penning replied, rightly, that none of those who had voted would have had an opportunity to do so had the government continued with Labour’s policy of unaccountable police authorities. McCabe retorted that the £5.3 million cost of the recent PCC by-elections were not value for money for the taxpayer. Then David Nuttall suggested that turnout might improve if the elections used first-past-the-post rather than the supplementary vote system. Penning replied:
‘We are looking very carefully at the two by-elections and what methodology would help the turnout to be increased but if the Labour party keep running them down it’s no surprise that in their areas, their own areas where they’ve got PCCs…’
He trailed off, shouting at the frontbench for trying to shout him down, but his implication was that there is no wonder Labour areas would have low turnouts. This does have a little more logic: Labour hardly wholeheartedly sells PCCs given it wants to scrap them if it returns to government in 2015. But Penning must be aware that there is other ‘methodology’, including the government itself wholeheartedly promoting the commissioners, which it has never really managed to, that would increase turnout.
Still, it’s much more fun to blame Labour, even when, for once, it’s not their fault.
Comments