ConservativeHome's Parliament Page reports
Delivering his maiden speech on Wednesday, former soldier and journalist Richard Drax – who gained Dorset South from Labour – said that he had entered public life because he could no longer “sit on my hands and watch our beloved country lose her pride.”
He explained that he is by no means the first Drax to sit in the Commons:
“My foray into politics ends a slight drought of Draxes here in the Commons. In an earlier deluge, six ancestors graced this place between 1679 and 1880—all representing the long-lost seat of Wareham. One, John Sawbridge Erle-Drax MP, spoke only once during the entire 32 years of his parliamentary career, and that was to ask the Speaker of the House to open the window. Unsurprisingly, he was known as the “Silent MP”. After his death, he arranged for The Times to be delivered daily to his mausoleum through a specially built-in letterbox; mine is under construction. In view of his Trappist tendencies, for his descendent to be making his maiden speech a mere eight weeks into the parliamentary Session must seem like indecent haste.”
He went on to speak up for Britain’s prison officers:
“We have two prisons in South Dorset, HMP The Verne and the young offenders institution. I have visited both on several occasions and work closely with the governors and the Prison Officers Association. The POA’s plight has been ignored for too long. As in so many other areas, the pendulum has swung too far in one direction. Today, officers feel powerless to do their job effectively as the prisoners appear to have more rights than they do. With 50% remission as the norm, it is difficult to apply meaningful sanctions to prisoners who do not toe the line. It is important to remember, in my humble opinion, that the Prison Service is just that—a service. Without proper support, officers will continue to feel, as they repeatedly describe themselves, a “forgotten army”.
It is a pity that Richard Drax did not use his maiden speech to highlight the forgotten army of 75,000 prisoners denied their human right to the vote!
Or just shut the fuck up like his dumb ancestor.
ReplyDeleteBring back days added on. Make that years.
Perhaps the reason prison officers are a forgotten army is because locking people up carries a stigma. Instead of angsting about prisoners having the rights of an altogether higher primate, humans, they would do better to reflect that, whatever they're doing, it just damn well don't work. Back they come! Such a waste of a life. Pointless. Useless.
Charles: Congratulations, you are the first wineer of my Comment of the Day Award.
ReplyDeleteBackburner I'd say.
ReplyDeleteHugely honoured, John. When's the Award Ceremony? Is there a cheque?
ReplyDelete