Ladyman out of touch ?

Writing in this weeks Isle of Thanet Gazette Stephen Ladyman MP, has this great insight referring, I guess to fellow MPs “Too many of my colleagues have failed to understand how angry people are …”

Well I just wonder if Stephen Ladyman has ever considered the impact of him, as I understand accepting a donation of £25,000 for his local constituency party from a local developer, who wishes to concrete many acres of Thanet.

Stephen Ladyman has been kind enough to allow us taxpayers an insight into his expenses even at one point to “slum it” by sending a contribution to Bignews Margate, after I questioned why we have been paying out £340 a month on food.

Incidentally he did not address the issue of the second job, which was highlighted some time ago in the Sunday Times when not too long, after leaving his job as minister for state for transport, (about a year later) he was spending some time writing letters on behalf of ITIS Holdings, for whom he was employed as an “adviser”, citing that the recipient might recall he had once been “minster of state …….”

It would be interesting to know whether Stephen Ladyman is currently gaining vital experience as a salesman for ITIS Holdings, it’s often the excuse of MP’s that holding directorships and jobs outside of parliament somehow enhances their abilities to do the job of MP. Yeah right, and I’m sure that most MP’s then give money earned from outside directly to charity.

Stephen Ladyman when he replied to Bignews Margate suggested the cost of food was necessary due to the long hours of the parliamentary day, well not having worked in parliament what would I know, the closest I’ve ever been to Ladyman’s hectic schedule was few months last year leaving home @ 5am, back home around 8pm after building railways in London, and despite getting paid less than half an MP’s salary, I never expected my employers to pay for my breakfast sarnie, lunch time cafe visit or even the takeaway when I got home.

In fairness to politicians I’ve never had to sit on my backside all day and talk bollix or listen to it.

Ladyman finishes this weeks Gazette column “By all means voters should punish MP’s who have broken the rules. But in the end, MP’s should be elected because of their values, their record, their beliefs and their policies, not because they have deep pockets.”

Quite right, so if I were one of Labours hardworking honest activists who’d had a kicking in the polls I’d take a long hard look at this comment and maybe ask Ladyman whether he might think about his values and see if they stand up to scrutiny on the level of not just whether rules are broken but also if the spirit of the rules have been ignored.

Stephen Ladyman is not alone in his attitude, the “in good faith” position is sadly shared by most MP’s, who seem to think, if, they’ve been open enough to admit, there’s a vile smell coming from the Kitchen, that exonerates them from the fact they created the stink in the first place.

To sum up, I’m sure that Stephen Ladyman is well meaning and honest in his dealings, and I hope that he at least has the chance to see the bigger picture this weekend and does something for the country like help get rid of Gordon Brown who if left in office will guarantee a long time in the wilderness for Labour.