Thursday 3 July 2008

Finance Bill votes

Stephen Ladyman has spoken of how retrospective green taxation isnt fair on the motorist as there is no way to avoid such penalties saying "a 'green' tax that you cannot avoid by changing your behaviour is not a 'green' tax, it's just a tax. in future, changes to excise duty aimed at encouraging people to drive cleaner cars should never bite on vehicles already on the road but always to new vehicles." He was quoted in PMQs with the first sentence. The final vote a while back The final votes on the Finance Bill putting into the law some of the things he spoke out against were held last night. If he really mean what he had said he would have voted against the Government plans and in favour of the relevant Tory amendments such as New Clause 3.

Instead he voted in favour of the Government every single time last night and against the Tory amendments, reinforcing the image that he will speak out against his Government in public to please his local voters and get a few headlines but when it comes to the crunch, wont have the cahones to even abstain from the things he has spoken out against. Of course he hopes no one notices and that it'll pass, particularly past Spring 2010. As with the Counter-Terrorism Bill he has spoken out against the plans and yet voted in favour of the legislation without a single abstention to his name.

As has been said before, Stephen Ladyman has only rebelled on the most exceptional of occasions, an unquestioning yes-man for Labour. And for what? Does he expect to be "appropriately rewarded"?

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