as title really and following on from the pay rise thread, does anyone actually have any firsthand experience of an MP doing anything that has been worth doing, either locally or nationally, that directly makes something better for us, the public, or am i not understanding how politics works? do they just vote on stuff? cos anyone could do that…

That Lembit Opik chap did the Cheeky Girls didn’t he?

I had a broken back fixed on the National Health, if that counts.

Bevin, wasn’t it?

My MP was pushing for a law to ban mass cycle events – so depends on your point of view I guess!

I assume that the NHS, banning Slavery, giving Women the Vote, the Human Rights Act, Gay Marriage, Freedom of Information Act, Equalities Act all just appeared out of thin air?

Probably, but doing something good these days is barely news-worthy so you’ll never hear about it anyway

All right… all right… but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order… what have the government ever done for us?

This bloke did a bit

Grayling did a decent job of making prisons a more dangerous environment for staff & prisoners.

Northwind – Member
All right… all right… but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order… what have the government ever done for us?

😆

The freedom to question whether they’ve done anything of use..
Generally when you see MPs speaking you can just see the oxygen being wasted….

Shame really as that oxygen is useful..

My chap left the Navy, where he was a Doctor, to become a Tory MP. He was recalled to serve in Iraq, as a Doc. As an MP he could have got out of it, but didn’t. He reported back on his experiences.

As a decent bloke who’s previously had a real career in the real world, I guess he won’t be climbing far up the political pyramid.

I assume that the NHS, banning Slavery, giving Women the Vote, the Human Rights Act, Gay Marriage, Freedom of Information Act, Equalities Act all just appeared out of thin air?

[quote]do they just vote on stuff? cos anyone could do that… [/quote]
like i said, i dont just mean collectively, voting on things, because a great many of them voted against gay marrige, FOI act, giving women the vote, etc. i mean on a more individual level. i’m trying to understand wether or not, if a completely random section of society were to make these kinds of decisions, would things be any different?

i mean on a more individual level

As in pulling babies from burning houses type stuff?

No idea and don’t really care, that’s not what they’re elected for.

You have to take into account that MPs are involved in drawing up the legislation that they vote on… i.e. they don’t just vote on the laws, they create them.

On the subject of good things MPs have done/are doing:

John Mann has been doing good things,

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8QV2dn3gMQ[/video]

by attempting to get the Official Secrets Act changed to allow whistleblowers from the intelligence services to disclose their knowledge of the use of Child Abuse as a blackmail tool for various shady purposes, sometimes including Arms Deals.

On the flipside, we have the MP Dr Julian Lewis, who was pivotal in preventing investigation into Dolphin Square abuse in the 1990s:

In the early nineties, in the now defunct Scallywag magazine, which I founded, we interviewed in some depth twelve former inmates at Bryn Estyn who had all been involved in the Wrexham paedophile ring, which the tribunal acknowledges existed. Most of these interviews were extremely harrowing and disturbing, but were gently and sensitively conducted over pub lunches where the victim could relax. We subsequently persuaded ten of them to make sworn affidavits which we proposed to use as back up to half a dozen paedophile stories we later published.

Two of these young men, who had been 14-years-old at the time, swore they had been not only introduced to the paedophile ring operating in the Crest Hotel in Wrexham but had later been escorted on three or four occasions to an address in Pimlico where they were further abused.

We took them separately to Pimlico and asked them to point out the building where this had taken place. They were both positive in their identification. It turned out to be the private flat of a well known, and since highly discredited lobbyist who later went into obscurity in some disgrace because of his involvement with Mohammed al-Fayed and the ‘cash for questions’ scandal. At the time we ran a story entitled ‘Boys for Questions’ and named several prominent members of the then Thatcher government. These allegations went to the very top of the Tory party, yet there was a curious and almost ominous lack of writs.

The lobbyist was a notorious ‘queen’ who specialised in gay parties with a ‘political mix’ in the Pimlico area – most convenient to the Commons – and which included selected flats in Dolphin Square. The two young men were able to give us very graphic descriptions of just what went on, including acts of buggery, and alleged that they were only two of many from children’s homes other than North Wales.

There was, to my certain knowledge, at least one resignation from the Conservative office in Smith Square once we had published our evidence and named names.

Subsequently, over a rent dispute which is still a matter of litigation, Dr. Julian Lewis, now Conservative MP for New Forest (East) but then deputy head of research at Conservative Central Office in Smith Square, managed to purchase the contents of our offices, which included all our files. It had been alleged that we owed rent, which we disputed, but under a court order the landlords were able to change the locks and seize our assets which included all our files, including those we had made on paedophiles. It was apparently quite legal, but it was most certainly a dirty trick.

All of a sudden very private information, some of it even privileged between ourselves and our lawyer during the John Major libel action, was being published in selected, pro-Conservative sections of the media.

Subsequently, during a court case initiated by Lewis, I was able in my defence to seek discovery of documents and asked to see the seized files. The paedophile papers were missing. This is a very great shame, because Sir Ronald Waterhouse certainly should have been aware of them.

Dr Julian Lewis has recently been made head of the Commons Defence Committee

He is also a member of a very shady ‘think tank’ known as Le Cercle

I think all that my MP has done is a fantastic impression of Tim Nice But Dim. So good in fact he was re-elected. 🙄

Wedgwood Benn; Renounced his hereditary peerage, leading campaigner against the Iraq war

My MP voted against gay marriage and tried to get a private members bill to bring back hanging.

So he’s managed to start a little 1950’s theme park for us all to enjoy

our MP introduced the bill to end Brewery fixed rent deals and allow pubs to buy from outside the brewery control which is good
He also helped me organise our cross events by speaking to the council in support.

so not bad

No MP has ever done anything good, of course, it’s that simple OP! 🙄

18 posts in and only 3 positives*… its not looking good is it?
* and one of them was churchill, what was it he did again?
edit 4 out of 19

Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour Party impressed me with his shell-shocked comment about the blood on his white shirt ‘not being his own’ when he got stuck in to help rescue folk from The Clutha Pub in Glasgow when the helicopter crashed in 2013.

Northwind – Member
All right… all right… but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order… what have the government Romans ever done for us?

FTFY

Mine shagged John Prescott. Don’t know if that’s better or worse than being John Prescott.

If I was going to pick an MP out for being interesting it would be Rory Stewart, he’s been about a bit and seen a few things.

Robin Cook voted against the Iraq war. Ultimately futile against a misled house that wanted blood, but at least he showed principals in that.

I’m very far from sharing the political views of my MP (Gerald Howarth) and wouldn’t dream of voting for him, but kudos to him for joining Trail Action Group on an MTB ride around the contentious MOD areas in his constituency.

Son of Benn (Hereditary Labour MP) v Coastal Footpath…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/3324755/Benn-under-fire-over-private-patch-of-Essex.html

Got my pal a successful third round of NHS infertility treatment after the 1st two failed. In her area you only get two by default. Conservative MP.

mikewsmith – Member

This bloke did a bit

Ah, Churchill.

Another elitist bloody-handed warmonger.

Quite a few resigned but then another scrounger got elected

seems like there’s not much love around for our dear leaders,so, whats the alternative? time for a bit of research…

Got my pal a successful third round of NHS infertility treatment after the 1st two failed. In her area you only get two by default. Conservative MP.

I wouldn’t say that getting special treatment for an individual instead of getting the policy changed is a good thing for an MP to do.

http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/7502842

Our tory MP (Andrew Jones, Harrogate) does a lot of good for the community, he’s even gone as far as trying out school dinners!
He hasn’t yet spent a day with any doctors or nurses in Harrogete District Hospital (AFAIK) or had some quality time down the Seg at our place while someones on a dirty protest.

I doubt he ever will either.

The majority of them spend the majority of their time doing “good stuff”. It’s what they are paid to do on our behalf.

We are just always looking for an excuse to have a go because the minority are dickheads at times. Same way we like to have a go at all drivers. It’s the STW ageing hipster way, maaaan!

That Lembit Opik chap did the Cheeky Girls didn’t he?

Having had the dubious honour of being within a few feet of both ‘cheeky’ girls, on no scale do they fall anywhere near the good end. Stinky, scrawny untalented females.

I was impressed by Ken Livingston when he partly cleared the streets of London of traffic by slashing the tube fares. I really appreciated that on my cycle to work.

my mates a tory boy mp but a proper working class lad, served in the forces in the ranks.. genuinely a decent chap glad that we have folks like him to stand up for us.

http://newsmedianews.com/milligan.php

This pervert did

Dan Jarvis did.
Prior to becoming an MP.
as did Paddy Ashdown,