Matt Hancock suspended

[Chippy_Tea]

He will be voted into every trial until he breaks, i don't normally watch but may this time until he is gone.

Edit to add -
This is not about Boris going on holiday this is specifically about Hancock going into the jungle knowing Dorries was suspended for doing the same.



Former health secretary Matt Hancock has been suspended as a Conservative MP after joining the cast of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Mr Hancock will swap representing his constituents at Westminster for eating bugs in the jungle.
But Tory party managers have taken a dim view of the West Suffolk MP's decision to take part in a reality TV show while Parliament is sitting.
The Tory chief whip said it was "serious enough" to warrant suspension.
Simon Hart, who is in charge of Tory MP discipline, said he had taken the decision after speaking to Mr Hancock.
Andy Drummond, deputy chairman of the West Suffolk Conservative Association, said he was looking forward to seeing Mr Hancock "eating a kangaroo's *****".

The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice called Mr Hancock's decision "sickening", and called for ITV to remove him from the programme.
The group tweeted: "Matt Hancock isn't a 'celebrity', he's the former health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules."
Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said: "The PM believes that at a challenging time for the country MPs should be working hard for their constituents, whether that is in the House or in their constituency."
The spokesman said it was "unlikely" Mr Sunak would be watching the programme.
When MPs have the whip suspended, they are kicked out of the party within Parliament but remain an MP and continue to be paid.
Conservative MP Tim Loughton said Mr Hancock had been an "absolute prat" and losing the Tory whip was "the least he deserves".
"I'm completely disappointed and disgusted that he's put himself and his so-called celebrity career ahead of serving his constituents," he told Times Radio.
He added that if Mr Hancock's local Conservative association "have got any sense they might deselect him as well" - a move that would prevent him standing as a Tory candidate at the next election.

Full article - Matt Hancock suspended as Tory MP for joining I'm a Celeb cast

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Was Mad Nads suspended when she went on it ?

 

[moto748]

Was Mad Nads suspended when she went on it ?

Yes. Didn't hurt her career chances. Hancock, though, may not have chosen so wisely....

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Was Mad Nads suspended when she went on it ?

The Conservative party has suspended Nadine Dorries after it emerged she is to take time off from parliament to be a contestant in ITV's jungle-based reality show I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here.

The decision by the MP for Mid Bedfordshire to become the first serving MP to take part in the show, which features famous faces performing in stunts that in the past have included being smothered in insects and eating a kangaroo's *****, could keep her from parliamentary and constituency business for a month.

Colleagues reacted with surprise and the MP faced a barrage of criticism. By early evening, the Conservative party had confirmed that the chief whip, Sir George Young, had withdrawn the party whip from Dorries, who did not ask him for permission to take part in the show. Her constituency chairman also said he had been unaware of her involvement in the show.

A party spokesperson said: "George Young … will have an urgent meeting with her when she gets back. The concern is that she will not be doing parliamentary or constituency business in the meantime."

Labour branded the Tory MP "shameless" over her decision to appear on the show. Dorries, who is paid £65,738 a year as an MP, will be paid up to a maximum of £40,000 for taking part in the show, which runs daily from Sunday.

Dorries, who has flown to Australia to prepare for the show – which is set in an outdoor studio in the Queensland jungle – tried to justify the decision by saying the programme would act as a platform to reach the public and raise awareness about issues such as a reduction in the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20.

She told the Sun: "I'm doing the show because 16 million people watch it. If people are watching I'm A Celebrity, that is where MPs should be going. I'm not going in there to upset people, but I have opinions."

Pressed on her fellow Tory's forthcoming appearance on the programme, the home secretary, Theresa May, said: "Frankly, I think an MP's job is in their constituency and in the House of Commons."

Labour accused the prime minister, who is on an official visit to the Middle East, of showing weak leadership earlier in the day when he refused to be drawn into the fray. He said: "Nadine Dorries can speak for herself on this issue."

Dorries has repeatedly clashed with the prime minister, most recently describing Cameron and George Osborne as "two arrogant posh boys" with "no passion to want to understand the lives of others".

Speaking before the whip was suspended from Dorries, the Labour MP Steve McCabe said: "It is shameless that a Conservative MP thinks it is right to spend time boosting her own profile on a reality TV show in Australia instead of fighting for jobs and growth in Britain. David Cameron is so weak he cannot even stop his backbenchers appearing on TV when they should be standing up for their constituents. He should get a grip."

There was similar controversy in 2006, when George Galloway, then MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

Dorries will be absent for votes in the Commons and could miss Osborne's autumn statement on the economy on 5 December if she survives on the show long enough.

Her constituency chairman, Paul Duckett, said he was "surprised" to hear Dorries was taking part and would consider "further action" depending on views within the local association. Duckett met his deputy chair on Tuesday to discuss the matter.

"She is a very good constituency MP," he said. "She is very diligent and she spends a lot of time on the job and I'm quite surprised that she has decided to just go away and take part on the programme.

"Normally she would tell me and normally we would know because she is a very diligent MP, which is why it came as a bit of a surprise from the media that she is going off to do a TV programme. If she is doing this programme and taking time out – which is a very unusual thing for her – we will take a view if this is what actually happens."

Duckett added: "We shall find out what she is doing, where she is and what she is intending to do and if it is in contravention to anyone's opinions within the association then we will take further action."

The former Tory MP Louise Mensch, who gave up her Corby seat in August to live with her husband in the US, was among those who took to Twitter to criticise Dorries's decision.

"Nothing sadder than a politician, or ex-politician, on any of those shows," she said. "Just imagining the scene in the whips' office if I said I wanted to skip parliament for weeks to go on a celebrity TV show."

She added: "Nadine pretending that a serious issue like abortion rights is why she did this is the lowest of the low. Indefensible stuff."

Lembit Öpik, the former Liberal Democrat MP, took part in the show after losing his seat in the 2010 general election.

Öpik, who lasted only 14 days in the Australian jungle and was bitten by a snake in his first week, tweeted his support for Dorries: "Good on Nadine Dorries for the jungle if she's really going in. Go gal!"

Tim Montgomerie, founder and editor of UK political website ConservativeHome, suggested Dorries could "present an image of a Tory MP that defies some of the popular preconceptions and caricatures".

He posted on the site: "It's not clear to me how much politics she'll be able to discuss but her hope is that she'll be able to introduce herself to an audience that would never tune into Question Time, the Daily Politics or perhaps even a main news bulletin.

"She argues that more people watch and vote in reality shows than in many elections. If that's where the people are, that's where she thinks MPs should be too."

Other figures tipped to take part in this year's show, hosted by Ant and Dec, include the Birds of a Feather actor Linda Robson and the former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, who played Rosie Webster.

The former world darts champion Eric Bristow is also said to be taking part. ITV declined to comment on Dorries ahead of the official announcement of the show's lineup.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/nov/06/nadine-dorries-im-a-celebrity

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yes. Didn't hurt her career chances. Hancock, though, may not have chosen so wisely....

Is it a coincidence he has a book coming out soon?

 

[chrissyr63]

How will the Tories cope with the talent drain - oh hang on....

 

[Chippy_Tea]

How will the Tories cope with the talent drain - oh hang on....

How will they cope when they find out he is a celebrity

 

[chrissyr63]

Not that big a celebrity, Rishi didn't even recognise him last time he saw him!



(hope that works)

 

[Bjorn Toulouse]

Glad he is not my MP. I wonder what would happen if I said to my bosses, by the by don't try contact me for a few weeks, I'm doing I'm a celebrity? OH, I know, here is your P45.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Matt Hancock has defended his decision to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! - saying the TV show is a "powerful tool" to reach young people.
Writing in the Sun, the former health secretary said politicians must "go where the people are".
"I haven't lost my marbles or had one too many pina coladas," he wrote.
Mr Hancock - who has arrived in Brisbane ahead of the show's launch on Sunday - has faced a backlash over his reality TV ambitions.
One Tory colleague, MP Tim Loughton, described him as a "absolute prat" and he has faced calls from opposition critics to give up his £84,144 a year MP's salary while he is in the Australian jungle.
In a statement, his local West Suffolk Conservative Association said it was "disappointed" and accused Mr Hancock of a "serious error of judgement".
"MPs should be working hard for their constituents, particularly when we have a cost of living crisis and people are facing hardship," the group added.
he programme - which he will have to declare in the Register of Members' Interests - to charity.

The West Suffolk MP was suspended as a Conservative MP after announcing he was off to Australia to take part in Bushtucker trials but will continue to be paid as an independent MP.
He is also due to appear in the Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins, where celebrities take part in military training.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - who appeared to snub Mr Hancock when he was crowned Tory leader last week - seems to have taken a dim view of his colleague's latest career move.
The prime minister's official spokesman said he believes "MPs should be working hard for their constituents, whether that is in the House or in their constituency".
But Mr Hancock has rejected the criticisms, writing that it is the job of politicians to engage with people.
"Rather than looking down on reality TV, we should see it for what it is — a powerful tool to get our message heard by younger generations. In fact, I think it's patronising to hear some say reality TV is beneath a politician.
"It's as clear as day that politicians like me must go to where the people are — particularly those who are politically disengaged. We must wake up and embrace popular culture."

MPs are allowed to do paid work beyond their role as an elected representative, and some earn significant amounts for consultancy and legal work.
Participating in reality TV is not unheard of as a sideline and Mr Hancock is not the first politician to enter the I'm a Celebrity jungle.
He follows in the footsteps of former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and ex-Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale.
But critics have attacked the MP over his impending three-week absence from Parliament, at a time when energy costs are spiralling, the government is facing a budgetary "black hole" and the war in Ukraine rages on.
Mr Hancock said he had turned down two offers from reality TV producers in the summer "because of the instability government was facing at the time".
But he said with Mr Sunak now in post as prime minister, the political climate was "stable" enough to allow him to take up the opportunity - and he said he has agreed with the show's producers he can be reached at any point on any urgent constituency matters.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63481685

 

[Brewnaldo]

A serious party, full of serious people to be taken seriously.

 

[chrissyr63]

I like the suggestion that he would have done something else earlier but he needed to stick around otherwise we wouldn't have been able to manage - a man so full of himself and bulls**t he doesn't realise it!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Matt Hancock has defended his decision to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! - saying the TV show is a "powerful tool" to reach young people.

They were discussing this on 5 live today, people who have been on the show said the viewers will not see any political discussion unless there is an argument or someone tears him a second one over his covid decisions (the famous kiss etc) most of the camp discussion ends up on the cutting room floor.

 

[Rodcx500z]

All i can say is westminster should be renamed Billy Smarts Circus