A Week in Parliament

What is a Rebel?

From the Cambridge dictionary, rebel means “a person who refuses to accept the government's power”. Anyone following politics of late, would have read that Tory rebels would defeat the UK Government on amendments on the EU Withdrawal Bill. It did not come to pass as the original amendments agreed in the Lords were defeated by the UK Government. This was because the Government agreed to make further changes. Which turned out not to be the case...

One week later and we were assured the rebels would not back down after being done over by the UK Government. The lead “rebel” Dominic Greave MP, a former Attorney General, very intelligent and who we are told is a man of utmost integrity. However, yet again, some weasel words from the UK Government and he backed down as did many of his colleagues. It seems to me that he has a different understanding of the word rebel, or maybe there is a specific Tory understanding of what it means because he certainly has accepted the Government’s powers to the point of no return.

No Deal

And so, the hard line Brexiteers are cock-a-hoop at the back down of the “rebels”. They think it means the UK can just crash out of Europe. In their minds, all will be fine…apparently Airbus are lying when they say they will pull out; other businesses are scaremongering and doesn’t it just gladden your heart when the Foreign Secretary actually says “F*** business” when asked about it? This poses further questions, (a) what does he have to do to get sacked? (b) what is their plan? and (c) do they care about anything other than the fact they think the UK can return to some Empire status they fondly miss?

With the Foreign Minister’s behaviour, I find it surprising that some people think the SNP are the ones to disrespect Westminster!

Gala Season

Summer season brings all the local community galas, fetes and events. It makes for very busy but enjoyable weekends as I like to get out and about and support these when I can. I managed Mauchline Holy Fair, Dunlop, Darvel, Galston, Fenwick, Hurlford, Stewarton Bonnet Guild’s Gala Days; two days at the Lapraik Festival in Muirkirk and Stewarton United’s Beer Festival (a real sacrifice on my part!). I also managed to drop into Ayrshire Samaritans’ one year birthday bash at their new premises as well as doing the “Roon the Toon” 10k. Often some of these events were on the same day, so time management, not my strongest point, was in order. A huge congratulations to all those who organised these events. Having been involved with the Newmilns Gala Committee in the past, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to get volunteers, pull in the right favours and the all-important fundraising aspect. This year, the great unpredictable, the Scottish weather turned out for the most part to shine on all those events – which always makes them that bit more enjoyable, so thanks again to all those volunteers.

These thoughts were first published in the Kilmarnock Standard.