Is Labour on a legislative go-slow? In recent weeks, Mr S has noticed a theme from conversations in the corridors of power. Across the House, MPs are increasingly noticing the number of ‘one-line’ whips they are on in parliament. This refers to diktats issued by the party whips: a one-line whip means that MPs don’t have to turn up to vote if they don’t feel like it, but if they do, they must then vote with the whip. Three-line whips, by contrast, are non-negotiable.
So it says something about the state of the Commons right now that nearly half of the sitting days since the general election have been listed as a ‘one-line whip’. Analysis by Jerome Mayhew shows that between 4 July and 8 February, the House of Commons had 85 sitting days. Of these some 41 were listed as ‘one-line whip days’ – just over 48 per cent of all days that MPs sat in total. Increasingly, some Tory MPs have taken to Twitter to note out they are officially packing up at 3.45 p.m in the middle of the week. Mayhew told Mr S:
Labour promised to hit the ground running after the general election. These figures show that they just hit the ground. It turns out that there really was no plan, so we are left with a parliament sitting on its hands at a time when the country is crying out for a sense of leadership.
And on Thursday, recess starts again! No wonder some MPs now joke about the only way to get growth is ‘if we all get second jobs’.
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