Disclaimer: I do not much of like their politics and have no personal sympathy for Gerry Adams etc etc, but hats off to his spokesman, from here:
Under procedures dating back to 1642, MPs are forbidden from formally resigning their seats. They must apply for a position of profit under the crown, which automatically disqualifies them from being a member of the House of Commons. Under those rules, Mr Adams has to apply to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to become Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. The other office is Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, a role currently unavailable as it is held by former Strangford MP Iris Robinson...
The rules, available on parliament's website, suggest that the problem cannot be solved by appointing Mr Adams to the role, regardless of his own wishes. They state that an MP wishing to retire must apply themselves to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
A Sinn Fein spokesperson has told the BBC that Mr Adams has no intention of doing so. He said: "It's a non-issue from our perspective. He submitted his resignation and that's it. He's stepped down from that position. He certainly didn't apply for the Stewardship of the Manor of Northstead."
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Sinn Fein: Cutting the crap
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12 comments:
It's going to be interesting to see if Sinn Fein will be the saviour of the Irish people from EU serfdom using political instead of ballistic methods.
BB, as a left wing nationalist party, Sinn Fein appear to be mildly EU sceptic. They certainly opposed signing the Lisbon Treaty and the recent EU/bank bailout shenanigins.
Someone somewhere was arguing that this development means a major change to the constitution.
a) bullshit
b) quite right that an MP should simply be able to resign without some nonsense about the Chiltern Hundreds.
I asked while Brown was dithering about when to call an election why it was not possible for MPs to resign en masse to trigger a non-general election. Nobody came up with any sensible answer.
Can't agree with this at all. Being sent to Parliament to represent and defend the interests of a bunch of us ordinary chaps before the powers of the land is a very serious business, even if very few of those who do it actually take it at all seriously. They shouldn't be able to just walk away comptemptuously from the people who they once begged to choose them when they get bored or they find a better way of getting money and power.
Sure they should be allowed to resign if they want, just the same as their constituents should be able to vote to sack them, if they want.
Agree with that Bayard!
Bayard/Blue Eyes
He can resign. However, in the case of an MP, the formalities of resignation are to apply for an office of profit under the Crown. This might be fusty to you but those are the rules: they're hardly onerous.
Analogously, if I want to resign as a director of a limited company in the UK, to make it formal I (or somebody from the company) has to file a form with the Registrar of Companies. Again this is hardly onerous but those happen to be the rules. The rules could be changed of course but you would still require some process by which the resignation could be registered and formalised. Phoning up the company secretary and telling him to f*** off might be psychologically satisfying but is hardly adult behaviour.
This is purely grandstanding by Adams and is part of thumbing his nose at us.
U: "This is purely grandstanding by Adams and is part of thumbing his nose at us."
Yes of course, that's what he was elected to do, isn't it? Which is why I also applaud bad behavious by UKIP MEPs over at the EU - it's what we elected them for!
Adams never actually took his seat, surely? (because of "oath to the Queen" shenanigans) - so he's solely a paid employee of HMG, not a Proper MP What Has To Follow Rules. So, while hilarious (especially because the current Chiltern Hundreds lady is the Continuity Paisley And Shagging Young Men candidate), this doesn't affect constitutional stuff for real MPs, as far as I can see...
"I also applaud bad behavious by UKIP MEPs"
So do I but I also assume there's a formal way of resigning your seat in Brussels which, again, I suspect is not onerous (and would probably be observed to the letter because oodles of cash for ex-MEPs depend on it).
John B makes a good point. Adams is probably not an MP anyway since he didn't complete the formal process of becoming one (although I believe the previous administration ensured that Adams would receive oodles of our cash anyway in expenses).
Will they be able to hold a bye-election if Adams doesn't take the normal resignation route? Tricky, I should have thought.
(especially because the current Chiltern Hundreds lady is the Continuity Paisley And Shagging Young Men candidate)
Can't they just move her from the Chiltern Hundreds to the Chiltern Sixty Niners and make room for Gerry that way?
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