While the judges are permitting people to tweet from court – the Deputy Speaker today announced that tweeting was not permitted in the Chamber of The House of Commons…
For the life of me, I can’t see why MPs should not be permitted to tweet. We can watch the proceedings on television. It is our Parliament. The MPs serve our interests and the national interest – possibly. I follow quite a few MPs on twitter and enjoy their tweets. What harm can possibly arise? The decision is daft.
No Twitter for MPs in Commons, says Deputy Speaker
BBC: MPs have been told they should not use Twitter while sitting in the the House of Commons.
Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said they ought not to “be tweeting from the chamber to let the outside world know what is going on”.
Not let the outside world know what is going on?! Bizarre…. truly bizarre. I thought the whole idea of televising Parliament was so we would know what is going on? I suspect that Deputy Speaker Hoyle may find that advancement is not for him? More than 100 MPs use Twitter to communicate with their constituents and other followers.
Hat Tip to @Pam_nAshes for alerting me to this. I like Tom Harris MP and his humour and directness on Twitter. Pity he gave up blogging. His blog was good. I had the very real pleasure of doing a podcast with Tom last year before the election. I enjoyed the podcast. If you didn’t listen – well worth a listen.
AND… just when I didn’t think the day could not get more surreal… this…..
Tory MP sorry after novelty tie breaks into speech
BBC: A Conservative MP has apologised after inadvertently turning on his musical tie while making a speech in the House of Commons.
Nadhim Zahawi’s red neckpiece – worn as part of an anti-cancer campaign – started playing a tinny tune during a debate on education funding.
Deputy Speaker Dawn Primarolo urged him to be “more selective” in future in his choice of ties.
Mr Zahawi agreed to abide by her “words of wisdom” from now on.
TWITTER can be a force for good and pleasure… I love it. Hat Tip to @Loveandgarbage for alerting me to this…. as @loveandgarbage said to me in a tweet… beyond parody!
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BREAKING NEWS! Hat Tip to@zevans23
British MPs told they can use Twitter after temporary ban imposed
British MPs had been told earlier this afternoon that they should not be using Twitter while they sit in the House of Commons. But that decision has been retracted.The Deputy Speaker of the house, Lindsay Hoyle, warned MPs they cannot tweet from the chamber allowing the world outside knowledge of what was going on. However, in the last few hours, this decision appears to be reversed, reports in the Press Association say, with a reprieve handed to the members allowing them to carry on tweeting.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/302731#ixzz1BWXynEyB
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AND a bit of law… one for the Constitutional Law specialists…
Statements and speeches made in the Chamber of The House of Commons are privileged. No defamation suit may follow unless privilege is waived. What about Tweets from the Chamber? 🙂
LATEST!…. From The Telegraph…
Commons Twitter ban was ‘just a joke’
MPs have been given the green light to post messages on Twitter from the Commons chamber after an apparent ban on tweeting during debates.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP, and another prolific tweeter, went straight to Mr Hoyle for clarification and was told the remarks were tongue-in-cheek.
He then tweeted: “The Deputy Speaker cracked a gag, fair play to him for trying, at least.
“He’s told me he didn’t ban Twitter.”
Ah well….. it was amusing while it lasted….
MPs are representatives, not delegates, and as such are pretty free to do as they please. As we have seen. So the (deputy) Speaker is only upholding their right to all these privileges. (No, I don’t believe a word of this either, but then I’m only a tax payer.)
At the NI Assembly the problem is that phones interfere with the sound equipment, that’s why members aren’t allowed phones in at all. I would imagine that is at least part of the reason.
I tweeted this story earlier today and got a reply from Tom Harris MP, as follows: ‘Can’t stay on long – don’t want Speaker to see me…’. Brilliant! 🙂 http://bit.ly/gIkdGe
Pam – Excellent… I do like Tom Harris MP – amusing man….. pity he stopped blogging!
This is ironic. When I watch BBC Canada, I am able to view the televised proceedings of the House of Commons. I also am able to access video archives via http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Archive.aspx. I suppose banning MPs from tweeting guarantees “representation by discombobulation”?
Antonin – I am puzzled and baffled… not often the two together!
one trusts that misunderstood jokes of this nature may be of some value @davidallengreen for the Twitter Joke trial