Yahoo News Tory MP nods off in Parliament during Brexit debate
A Tory MP has found himself in the spotlight after nodding off in the House of Commons.
Sir Desmond Swayne, the MP for New Forest West in Hampshire, was caught on camera dozing during Ken Clarke’s speech on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Images of the MP fast asleep soon his the Twitter-sphere.
Kristiina Cooper tweeted: “A frequent and dedicated attendee at Commons debates & listening to one of Parliament’s most engaging speakers…for all that, it looked as if the #EUWithdrawalBill was getting a bit much for Desmond Swayne.. .”
And Lord Buckethead, who stood against Theresa May in the last general election, wrote: “In the past some British MPs have been subject to unfair abuse for appearing to sleep in Parliament when they were in fact listening to the speaker behind their seat. This is not one of those occasions. Behold Sir Desmond Swayne MP.”
Sir Desmond was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for political and parliamentary service.
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As a result of the expenses scandal, he had to repay £6,131 for a new kitchen in on his second-home flat in North Kensington and £60.66 for a water bill, but was reportedly one of the lowest claiming MPs in his local area after claiming £94,754 expenses in 2007/08 and £91,737 in 2006/07.
In the past some British MPs have been subject to unfair abuse for appearing to sleep in Parliament when they were in fact listening to the speaker behind their seat. This is not one of those occasions. Behold Sir Desmond Swayne MP. https://t.co/vB5kaSbfr0
— Lord Buckethead (@LordBuckethead) January 16, 2018
A frequent and dedicated attendee at Commons debates & listening to one of Parliament's most engaging speakers…for all that, it looked as if the #EUWithdrawalBill was getting a bit much for Desmond Swayne.. . pic.twitter.com/wiaZ2P4Ssz
— Kristiina Cooper (@KristiinaCooper) January 16, 2018
MPs were debating the EU Withdrawal Bill at report stage in the Commons, during which former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke told MPs it was an “illusion” to think key Brexit legislation would have an “untroubled passage” through the House of Lords.
He said: “I hope that the other place will make an enormous number of changes to this Bill.
“The idea that the Bill with all these Henry VIII clauses is going to have an untroubled passage through the House of Lords is an illusion.”
Mr Clarke said the Government’s approach throughout the “unsatisfactory proceedings so far has been not to debate the main issues”.
Instead he told MPs that ministers had raised “all kinds of technical, drafting or slightly irrelevant reasons why the proposals that are coming from the front benches on all sides can’t be accepted”.
