Popcorn

Used as a means of drawing attention to specific campaigns, early day motions are formal motions submitted by an MP for debate in the House of Commons. Most are not debated and in effect they serve as a form of petition for which other MPs may indicate their support by signing.

Recent motions welcome the forthcoming visit of the Dalai Lama, commend the achievements of Fidel Castro in securing first-class free healthcare and education provision for the people of Cuba and express alarm at the loss of 500 jobs following Cadbury’s decision to close its factory in Bristol.

And yesterday Sharon Hodgson MP was moved to table a motion ‘deploring the extortionate costs of confectionery and drinks at many cinemas’ She has urged the Office of Fair Trading to investigate. About time someone took a stand.

Benefits shake-up.

Secretary of state for work and pensions James Purnell yesterday announced a review into the way that benefit claimants are sanctioned for ‘playing the system’.

Speaking at the Social Market Foundation he said:

“When I was speaking to Job Centre Plus staff, they said that they felt that the sanctions regime could be improved. They didn’t want to be double-guessed by doctors about the fitness of claimants for work. They wanted to have a system of graduated sanctions and they wanted greater freedom to use the sanctions that currently exist.”

I am not sure what ‘double-guessing’ is but I think that means that job centre staff would like to be able to ignore the opinion of doctors and have power to discontinue a claimant’s benefit when, in their superior view, s/he was fit for work.

He added:

“To help tackle worklessness I am announcing today that everyone who is long term unemployed and claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance will be expected to undertake work related activity in return for their benefit.”

‘Work related activity’ is to include emergency surgery on those pretending to be unwell.

The Secretary of State concluded:

“We are streamlining the various New Deals into a single, flexible New Deal.”

That is an improvement. There were too many new deals. A single flexible one will be much better for all concerned.

James Purnell MP for Staleybridge and Hyde was formerly Culture Secretary. In November a Freedom of Information request revealed that his picture had been edited into a group portrait of MPs visiting a hospital. He arrived late and had his photo taken at the same spot and then photoshopped in to the group picture. He maintains that he was not aware of the deception and that he had not read an email sent to him explaining that his picture would be ‘dropped in’ to the group picture. Rumours that on the day in question he was moonlighting as a window cleaner have been roundly dismissed.

The group photo with Purnell photoshopped in…

and the picture of Purnell alone…