Post by nickd on Oct 7, 2011 0:03:37 GMT 1
MPs often 'too drunk to stand' in Commons
Some MPs drink so heavily before debates that they can barely stand up, a Conservative has claimed.
By Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor6:46AM BST 05 Oct 2011
Dr Sarah Wollaston, the MP for Totnes, alleged that a “shocking” number of MPs have “no idea” what they are voting for in the Commons as they just follow the orders of their leaders.
Dr Wollaston, 49, who won her seat at last year’s election, said the party should recruit candidates from a wider range of backgrounds to raise standards in Parliament.
“Who would go to see a surgeon who had just drunk a bottle of wine at lunchtime?” she said at a fringe meeting hosted by the Policy Exchange think tank. “But we fully accept that MPs are perfectly capable of performing as MPs despite some of them drinking really quite heavily.”
Dr Wollaston called for such behaviour to be “challenged”. She said: “It’s really shocking that so many MPs have no idea what they are voting for when they walk through the doors of the lobbies. I think we need to change the culture in Westminster.”
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8807606/MPs-often-too-drunk-to-stand-in-Commons.html
Sarah Wollaston
It's not the first time Sarah has spoken out either!