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Sir,

 

People who boast must expect to attract a degree of scrutiny which they might otherwise avoid. So I doubt if it was terribly wise of Angus Brendan MacNeil MP to draw attention to the frequency and nature of his Parliamentary contributions.

 

Fortunately, access to the House of Commons Library is not required in order to check claims against reality.

 

The excellent web-site www.theyworkforyou.com carries everything that is reported in Hansard and confirms that Mr MacNeil’s name has appeared on 1,657 occasions over the past five years.

 

Letter:  Parliamentary interruptions

29 March 2015

However, further scrutiny reveals that several hundred of Mr MacNeil’s “interventions on behalf of his constituents,” as he describes them, involve him saying nothing at all. These are generally the more sensible ones. The most frequent entry against his name is: “Angus MacNeil rose…”

 

His favourite technique is interrupting other people’s speeches. I found one example where the diligent MP for Goole had secured a debate on “mobile phone coverage in East Yorkshire and Lancashire.” Mr MacNeil chalked up nine interventions including three of “Angus MacNeil rose…”; one “Good on you”; one “Will the Hon Gentleman give way?” and one “The Hon Gentleman is too young for that.” Scarcely a day’s work to be proud of.

 

In one short debate, he interrupted other speakers 23 times, including seven “Angus MacNeil rose…” This may be great fun between tweets for our easily amused MP but it brings absolutely no benefit or enlightenment to his constituents.

 

In contrast, Mr MacNeil hardly ever makes a speech of his own, which involves stringing a few thoughts together.

 

The ‘theyworkforyou’ web-site goes all the way back to 1935 so it is possible to examine the contributions of previous MPs for the Western Isles – compare, contrast and weep. I noted that Donald Stewart, in his 17 years as an MP, chalked up 1465 “name checks” – fewer than Mr MacNeil boasts of in five.

 

I wonder how many of the SNP old guard in the Western Isles, never mind the electorate as a whole, think that we are better served by an MP whose only claim to fame is that he keeps “rising” in order to interrupt people, and very rarely says anything of substance about the many needs of the Western Isles.

 

Donald MacKinnon

31 Arnol

Isle of Lewis