And Now for a Check in at Parliament: Dawn Butler & "Unparliamentary Language"
“I believe there’s been an incident at Parliament. Alan McInally has the report. Alan.”
“Cheers Clive. Labour are down to ten Dawn Butler is dismissed for unparliamentary language. Labour are going to struggle to recover from this one. This could get ugly.”
“Thanks Alan”
“you what… my f*cking arse. Bloody soft these speakers nowadays! I remember back in my day Dennis Skinner gave Thatcher a proper talking too!”
Funnily enough my fictional friend, the Dennis Skinner you are referring too was suspended from parliament on at least ten occasions. Usually for unparliamentary language. There goes my fictitious strawman.
The rules on unparliamentary language are, like most parliamentary rules, arbitrary old boys school nonsense. Where it’s not necessarily the content of what you say that can lead you to trouble, but who is saying it. When Dennis Skinner initially burst onto the scene, he led a vehement opposition to Margaret Thatcher and her treatment of the miners.
A close friend of Arthur Scargill, Skinner represented a vocal majority of the population and often had the support of his party in his comments. So, when Skinner kicked up a fuss his party supported him making it difficult for the speaker to have him removed and, in doing so creating a benevolent gargoyle that hung over parliament on many an occasion.
However, on Thursday no such support was forthcoming - with prodigious fence sitter Sir Keir Starmer not necessarily condoning his MP Butler but not supporting her either; most likely due to the risk of undermining stand-in deputy speaker, Judith Cummins - another labour MP. Starmer then went on to claim his support for her post suspension, stating:
“The prime minister is the master of untruth and half-truths. And Dawn was simply giving some examples of that.”
“I think there’s a lot of people that feel that it’s the person who’s not telling the truth rather than the person who’s calling it out that ought to be on the hot spot, so I agree with Dawn on that.”
“But I do want, in fairness to the temporary Speaker, Judith Cummins, who was there – she did the right thing, she followed the rules, because parliament doesn’t allow you to call other parliamentarians liars in the chamber. So, I don’t criticise the deputy speaker for what she did. But do I support Dawn in what she said? I absolutely do.”
Starmer, in many ways, portrays the classic dilemma the leader of the Labour party faces with such a broad reaching and passionate divide both within his party and the voter base; he cannot defend and whole heartedly support his colleagues. So often he enters this void of public politicism which far from endears him to voters and sadly makes his position more and more untenable. Anyway, I may be getting distracted from the topic at hand.
Unparliamentary language is a charge many an MP will face and as such British MP’s take great pride in their ability to avoid such a suspension. And to many its somewhat of an old school game of evading the speaker’s rules and bending them within an inch of their life. Another reminder that British politics is solely and stubbornly routed in the private education system. Johnson’s idol, Churchill was considered by many a master of this game inventing such popular phrases as “Terminological inexactitude” (we all know it means a lie come on guys), being “Economical with the truth”, and “tired and emotional” being used as a euphemism for intoxicated. While fun for those stood in the box, for many brits living in poverty this game has grown weary. The issue with archaic systems is they fail to adapt to a more contemporaneous setting and Butler’s outburst has been welcome space for change. The sad reality faced by Everyday readers and voters is that such rules in parliament are anchors to a bygone era when supposedly politics was an honest man’s game and all ‘Honourable members’ were just that honourable; rather than overgrown members.
This is a nice idea but not one you can believe whole heartedly. Dawn Butler’s suspension talks to a wider experience of black and ethnic minority people in this country. For many the idea that those “good ol’ boys” of a bygone era were honourable; is farcical when those that are in power idolize some of the greatest Charlatans to ever live. Case in point, Johnson’s affinity for Churchill.
Johnson’s tenuous and frayed relationship with the truth has been well documented. With his former boss at the Daily Telegraph Max Hastings drawing attention to his “moral bankruptcy, rooted in a contempt for truth”. Furthermore, during his tenure as Prime Minister, Downing street has often neglected to correct the record when dealing with his ‘masterful truths and untruths’
“The Brutal reality is that the rules are the product of a bygone age when all members sought conscientiously to tell the truth and would quickly apologise and correct the record if they inadvertently misled the house. This prime minister – and, indeed this government – have no such scruples.”- John Bercow, The Times
In short, unparliamentary language is useful for allowing debates to simply not descend into a shit hurling contest, but since the age of spin and the rise of ‘alternative news’ Johnson and his unscrupulous colleagues have been able to lie and cheat with impunity. Butler’s actions do not threaten the nature of parliament, however they do set a worrying precedent. If those in opposition are increasingly unable to correctly hold the government to account, then what good is a chamber of debate.
Fiction and Poetry
Written by George Trueman
George is a writer and poet from Bradford, West Yorkshire. Despite his ongoing war with the comma sometimes he can write well enough to publish an article or two. Winner of the "walking thesaurus" award in Mr Camp's year 10 english class. His only accolade to date.
If ever have the odd compulsion to contact him his email is georgetrueman@yahoo.co.uk