North-East MP loses frontbench role (From The Northern Echo)
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North-East MP loses frontbench role
7:00am Friday 7th December 2012 in News
By Robert Merrick, Parliamentary Correspondent
A SECOND North-East Labour MP has been forced out of his frontbench job after clashing with the party leadership on a key policy.
Ian Lavery, the Wansbeck MP, quit as unpaid aide to Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, after tabling amendments in the Commons to block looming increases in the retirement age.
But it was Labour that first proposed a series of retirement hikes, which have now been accelerated by the Coalition so the pension age will be 66 in 2020 - and rise further to 67, in 2026.
Mr Lavery stepped down as Ms Harman's parliamentary private secretary (PPS) yesterday (Thursday, December 6).
Earlier this year, Grahame Morris, the Easington MP, attacked Labour's support for harsh public-sector pay curbs as "counterproductive", warning it would suck out demand and prolong the slump.
The left-winger had already angered the party leadership by refusing to cross a Westminster picket line when up to two million workers went on strike last November.
The twin clashes cost Mr Mr Morris his unpaid as a parliamentary aide to Rachel Reeves, the shadow Treasury chief secretary - traditionally seen as the first rung on the ministerial ladder.
In a statement, Mr Lavery said: "I tabled a series of amendments to the Public Sector Pensions Bill which I was asked to withdraw because they were not in line with the front bench position. I was not prepared to withdraw them and I stand by that."
In response, Ms Harman said: "I thank Ian for all his invaluable help, support and friendship as my PPS - particularly during my time as acting leader. He will continue to play an important role."
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Comments (3)
2:40pm Fri 7 Dec 12
st-george1 says...
There are times when I do wish the North East MPs would engage their brain sometimes before opening their mouths … its embarrassing, a bit like uneducated people being economical with the truth and expecting to get everything for nothing and ignoring the consequences Labour-style.
6:54pm Fri 7 Dec 12
spragger says...
He has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide and one must feel sorry for those he is meant to represent.
The area will NEVER recover whilst they return MP's of his calibre.
These people are closet communists
9:52am Sat 8 Dec 12
simmo707 says...
The fabric of modern Politics is woven with deceit and lies culminating in a well presented product but with basic material flaws that will not be sustainable for any length of time .You could assume that the hierarchy of the Tory Party act more like criminals than they do well read individuals .If they are an example of educated wealthy morally sound individuals then the majority of the British Public do not want to follow in their footsteps .For the Welfare Reform Bill to become Law skulduggery took an integral part .The process of any bill to become Law has to go through a process of it being proposed and then through different reading stages (http://www.parliame
nt.uk/about/how/laws
/passage-bill/) .To hijack the process Cameron applied for the Bill to be considered for financial privilege ,placing a stooge within the Lords Grand Committee who sided with the Commons proposal and therefore overrode the Lords .He estimated that £5.5 billion would be saved over four years ,£54 billion could be raised if the tax rate for anyone earning over £1000,000 per year was increased to 50% .Cameron and his smug cohort Osborne the public purse thief (http://www.guardian
.co.uk/politics/2012
/dec/07/taxpayers-pa
id-george-osborne-pa
ddock-mortgage) are overgrown infants playing in a sweet shop to the detriment of the public through poverty ,premature death and social cleansing .The situation has gone beyond reasonable logic being applied and the Tories should be thrown out ,replaced by a coalition of independants ,Ukip ,Liberals ,Labour and Tories but on an even footing .