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Diary: it's war on the trafficking committee. Big Dave wades into a backstage Commons row – and loses Diary: it's war on the trafficking committee. Big Dave wades into a backstage Commons row – and loses
(2 months later)
• Scant column inches are written about the all-party group on human trafficking and modern-day slavery because, although it's vital work, it doesn't have that zing factor. But in the febrile atmosphere of parliament these days, all prizes must be fought for and enmities affect everything. So it was that on Wednesday, when public attention was focused on hospitals and fag packets, 528 MPs and peers voted on who should be its new chair. There was a contest between the existing chair, the Tory Peter Bone, and Labour's Fiona MacTaggart. The very fact there was a contest was unusual – and it must be said Bone wasn't happy. "Ms Mactaggart is trying to turn the all-party group into a party political group that will promote a leftwing agenda," he complained, and he summoned the Tory big guns to stop her. An earlier vote tied them at 78 votes to 78. This week's vote ran for two hours. In went the PM, the chancellor, George Osborne and even Eric Pickles, even though it is almost unheard-of for cabinet members to take part in such elections. And yet it wasn't enough. MacTaggart won by 332 votes to 196. Bone is out. Whatever the Midas touch is, Big Dave brought the opposite.• Scant column inches are written about the all-party group on human trafficking and modern-day slavery because, although it's vital work, it doesn't have that zing factor. But in the febrile atmosphere of parliament these days, all prizes must be fought for and enmities affect everything. So it was that on Wednesday, when public attention was focused on hospitals and fag packets, 528 MPs and peers voted on who should be its new chair. There was a contest between the existing chair, the Tory Peter Bone, and Labour's Fiona MacTaggart. The very fact there was a contest was unusual – and it must be said Bone wasn't happy. "Ms Mactaggart is trying to turn the all-party group into a party political group that will promote a leftwing agenda," he complained, and he summoned the Tory big guns to stop her. An earlier vote tied them at 78 votes to 78. This week's vote ran for two hours. In went the PM, the chancellor, George Osborne and even Eric Pickles, even though it is almost unheard-of for cabinet members to take part in such elections. And yet it wasn't enough. MacTaggart won by 332 votes to 196. Bone is out. Whatever the Midas touch is, Big Dave brought the opposite.
• Are his lawyers and officials any better? It appears not, for on 18 July the appointed hour came and, on checking, we discovered that the specific legal threat the party had made towards the rightwing controversialist Claire Khaw had come to nothing. Having been thrown out of the party, she is attempting to take the Conservatives to judicial review at the high court. Last week party lawyers warned her to drop the action by noon on 18 July or face liability for its legal costs. Khaw tells us the threat meant little to her, and she would rather have her day in court. She was expelled on the basis that her pretty nasty views are incompatible with the party's principles – but, she claims, "they refuse to say what those principles are". If they encompass Khaw that's a bigger problem but, thankfully, it's not one for us. Let battle commence.• Are his lawyers and officials any better? It appears not, for on 18 July the appointed hour came and, on checking, we discovered that the specific legal threat the party had made towards the rightwing controversialist Claire Khaw had come to nothing. Having been thrown out of the party, she is attempting to take the Conservatives to judicial review at the high court. Last week party lawyers warned her to drop the action by noon on 18 July or face liability for its legal costs. Khaw tells us the threat meant little to her, and she would rather have her day in court. She was expelled on the basis that her pretty nasty views are incompatible with the party's principles – but, she claims, "they refuse to say what those principles are". If they encompass Khaw that's a bigger problem but, thankfully, it's not one for us. Let battle commence.
• It's hot. How hot. Well, forget the number of barbecues and sausages sold by the supermarkets. The new phew-what-a-scorcher indicator is laid out in rows on the shady side of the Shakespearean mecca, the Globe theatre, where audience members are dropping like swatted flies, particularly during the broiling matinees. "We had 40 people laid out on yoga mats the other day," director Dominic Dromgoole said. "Most of them just got up after a few minutes and went straight back in." Sometimes it is straightforward, sometimes not, for when people faint, they also tend to wet themselves. Life in the raw. But then, wasn't it the same in the Bard's day?• It's hot. How hot. Well, forget the number of barbecues and sausages sold by the supermarkets. The new phew-what-a-scorcher indicator is laid out in rows on the shady side of the Shakespearean mecca, the Globe theatre, where audience members are dropping like swatted flies, particularly during the broiling matinees. "We had 40 people laid out on yoga mats the other day," director Dominic Dromgoole said. "Most of them just got up after a few minutes and went straight back in." Sometimes it is straightforward, sometimes not, for when people faint, they also tend to wet themselves. Life in the raw. But then, wasn't it the same in the Bard's day?
• What to do about Shakespeare's Day? Many are keen to mark it. Alas, according to a letter in the Stage, they seem to be cutting each other's throats. "A petition in person requesting that the government institute Shakespeare Day on 23 April 2015, and annually thereafter as a calendar date, was lodged on Midsummer Day (24 June) at No 10," writes Faith Hines, convener of the Shakespeare Day campaign. "That afternoon, unknown to the Shakespeare Day team, a person by the name of Caroline Ball created an e-petition calling for Shakespeare's birthday to be made a public holiday. Ms Ball possibly acted in the belief she was being helpful to our cause. Not so." Can't have two petitions on the same issue. And so for three weeks, the search has been on for Caroline Ball, in the hope she can be prevailed upon to withdraw. No success yet, but they live in hope. "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow."• What to do about Shakespeare's Day? Many are keen to mark it. Alas, according to a letter in the Stage, they seem to be cutting each other's throats. "A petition in person requesting that the government institute Shakespeare Day on 23 April 2015, and annually thereafter as a calendar date, was lodged on Midsummer Day (24 June) at No 10," writes Faith Hines, convener of the Shakespeare Day campaign. "That afternoon, unknown to the Shakespeare Day team, a person by the name of Caroline Ball created an e-petition calling for Shakespeare's birthday to be made a public holiday. Ms Ball possibly acted in the belief she was being helpful to our cause. Not so." Can't have two petitions on the same issue. And so for three weeks, the search has been on for Caroline Ball, in the hope she can be prevailed upon to withdraw. No success yet, but they live in hope. "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow."
• Finally, more proof that fact can be stranger than fiction. We asked for invented examples of euphemisms the BBC might use to avoid referring to waterboarding as torture and the fabrications came in – as did communication from a reader who, in a previous professional life, had much to do with US diplomats in Germany. "There the American embassy spokeswoman denied they tortured people," he said. "They used 'executive authorised coercive questioning'." That really is equine waste product, isn't it?• Finally, more proof that fact can be stranger than fiction. We asked for invented examples of euphemisms the BBC might use to avoid referring to waterboarding as torture and the fabrications came in – as did communication from a reader who, in a previous professional life, had much to do with US diplomats in Germany. "There the American embassy spokeswoman denied they tortured people," he said. "They used 'executive authorised coercive questioning'." That really is equine waste product, isn't it?
Twitter: @hugh_muir Twitter: @hugh_muir
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