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Why MP is second best
• I DIDN’T know whether to laugh or shout when I read chairman of Islington Labour Party Ian McLaughlin’s brave defence of his political mistress, MP Emily Thornberry (MP Emily has impressive record of achievements, August 17).
It was particularly funny and telling that the things he praised Ms Thornberry for were those times when she joined with the Liberal Democrats against the government.
Emily joined with the Liberal Democrats earlier this year to vote against Labour on the replacement of Trident nuclear weapons.
On the issue of 90-day detention, when the Liberal Democrats were the only party who unanimously stood against the government’s draconian decree, Emily and 48 other Labour MPs joined with the opposition and the government was defeated.
So even Mr McLaughlin admits that Ms Thornberry is at her best when she is at her most Lib Dem, but as we have a real Liberal Democrat in Bridget Fox, we just don’t need Ms Thornberry. Ms Fox would have consistently voted against the Labour government’s draconian measures, but in all other votes on anti-terror legislation Emily has slavishly followed the government whip, even when it puts our traditional liberties on the line.
I couldn’t believe the last part of the chairman’s letter – where he praises her level of activity – because Ms Thornberry is well known for being one of the least active MPs in Parliament. That’s why it was hilarious and sad when she was unwittingly quoted in the Diary section of the Guardian as admitting she has constituents saying to her: “What do you do all day long, Emily? We never see you.”
We all wonder the same thing: where is Ms Thornberry?
Her official record in Parliament shows she has spoken in only 19 debates in the last year, which is well below average. She has hardly questioned the government on any issue. In the last year she’s asked only 15 per cent of the number of parliamentary questions asked by Jeremy Corbyn and barely three per cent of the number asked by Haringey Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone.
According to the MP Responsiveness League Table on WriteToThem.
com, Ms Thornberry is placed 587th out of 633 MPs when it comes to responding to constituents. That means she is 46th from worst in the whole of Parliament, not a good record. It shows she replied to a very low number of the letters sent to her.
CLLR RHODRI JAMIESON-BALL
Lib Dem, Mildmay ward
• WHILE defeated ex-councillor Bridget Fox attempts to launch her rather feeble bile at Islington South’s Labour MP Emily Thornberry, Emily is busy working hard to put her politics into action – a fact which even Bridget herself had to admit.
This summer, we have Emily to thank for her work in winning £32 million from the government for the rebuilding of the Packington estate in St Peter’s ward.
Without Emily’s successful representations to the government, it is unlikely we would have secured such a large amount of money for the project. She made sure Housing Minister Yvette Cooper knew how important it was that residents of the Packington estate get the new homes they deserve.
I am looking forward to seeing the transformation of the estate into a 21st century housing development fit for all the residents who live there. And thank goodness the estate didn’t get flogged off wholesale to the private sector, which is what Bridget and her cronies would have liked to do.
CLLR MARTIN KLUTE
Labour, St Peter’s ward
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