For those who didn't have the time to plough through last week's hour long European Scrutiny Committee grilling of Soubry and DoH puppet-master Andrew Black, here's a handy 3 minute summary of her astounding ignorance of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) concerning e-cigs.
Stunning, isn't it?
She went to the EU - behind the back of parliament and bypassing all proper scrutiny - to vote on a directive about which she knew virtually nothing. Yet she claims, and I quote:
"I'm not going to pretend that I just did what my officials said because it wasn't like that in any event."
So is she, instead, claiming that she subverted democracy by keeping a parliamentary committee in the dark, only to unilaterally vote on a set of measures without even knowing what was on the table? That would seem to be the only other conclusion to take since she was under the impression that e-cigs had been dropped from the TPD altogether.
So is she the most incompetent minister that has ever set foot in Westminster? Or just a 'repulsive little liar'?
You decide.
6 comments:
It's in the DM this morning that she's tipped to be promoted at the next reshuffle. Because she's a woman, and Cameron wants more women.
It seems politics is not about ability, it's about active gender discrimination.
There must be plenty of Tory backbenchers who are looking for promotion. Why don't we contact them and let them know what an incompetent is standing in their way, and is likely to contribute to the increase in UKIP votes at the next election. I know my MP lost his position in the last reshuffle.
Done.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
The critical point is, "What is the speaker of the HoC doing?" Is it not his job - nay, his historical DUTY, to defend parliament at all costs?
WHAT IS HE DOING ABOUT THIS SCANDALOUS, AUTOCRATIC, DICTATORIAL MISUSE OF POWER? I feel sure that the Speaker of the House of Commons has the right to demand that any arrangement entered into by Soubry is null and void, by virtue of the supremacy of Parliament.
When you think about why Tobacco Companies lost their high court actions against PP, despite international agreements, it is obvious that they failed because the government can decide whatever it wants to decide. No one has power to decide otherwise. But that is in respect of passing A LAW. It does not mean that a junior health minister can override Parliament and THE PEOPLE as regards a Treaty.
This is one of those rare occasions where the Government has been hoist by its own petard. Government does not need parliamentary approval to agree Treaties. It must publish in the HoC library details of the treaty, and MPs have the right to object, in which case a debate is required. This 'system' has been refined into the EU Scrutiny Committee.
I'm not sure, but I doubt that Soubry's commitment can stand without parliament actually passing a motion that it should.
But what is the Speaker DOING?
Perhaps this is the reason that nothing has been said in the MSM. It is a serious, constitutional matter.
Expect behind the scenes discussions and a brief meeting of the EU Scrutiny Committee whereat Soubry's agreements are confirmed.
Rewards all round.
She needs to go back to TV and read the News like she used to on Central. She needs a script.
I bet Armando Iannucci hates her - she's put him out of a job!
Life exceed art big time.
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