OFF: Fw: weird facts - bollocks more like.

Nick Widdows N.Widdows at BRADFORD.AC.UK
Thu Feb 5 07:50:28 EST 1998


On Tue, 3 Feb 1998 15:17:25 +0000 Hardman DK
<D.K.Hardman at CITY.AC.UK> wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Feb 1998, Jon Browne wrote:
>
> > >The Speaker is basically there to shout "order" when the
> > >politicians talk crap. You can't expect much from someone
> > >who was a stripper 50 or so years ago.
> >
> > What's wrong with strippers, anyway?!
>
> I think the slightly less lurid truth is that Betty Boothroyd was once in
> a chorus line.
>
> I'm not an expert on the commons, but the Speaker does have more to do
> than shout "order"; she selects who gets to speak from the multitudes
> waving their papers in the air - this isn't necessarily a random selection
> as certain people will have more important contributions to make, and it
> is her business to know who these people are; she also rules on whether
> certain items of business are allowed to be added to the agenda (from time
> to time an MP will demand an unscheduled debate about some crisis or
> other); she also gets to arbitrate on constitutional matters, such as the
> recent controversy as to whether or not Sinn Fein's MPs were to be allowed
> into the commons without swearing allegiance to the crown. Probably other
> stuff besides....she seems very well respected, and this doesn't happen
> just because you know how to shout.
>
> Dave

You don't get respect for knowing how to shout? Tell that
to Lemmy....
----------------------
Nick Widdows
NWiddows at bradford.ac.uk



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