Dawn 'does a Betty' with rowdy MPs
By Tony Grew - 2nd February 2011
Deputy Speaker Dawn Primarolo had to engage in some serious MP-wrangling this afternoon.
The debate on the sale of public forests more than made up for a boring PMQs earlier in the day.
The chamber was packed, the frontbench speeches were contentious, and both sides indulged in panto behaviour.
However, Primarolo became increasingly frustrated.
Then there was her battle of wills with environment minister James Paice.
He was in the middle of a too-long intervention during Mary Creagh's speech.
He would not sit down, despite Primarolo rising to her feet.
In the end she had to shout at him, and made it more than clear who is in charge.
She also told him off for going on too long - Paice was furious, and refused to even look at the deputy Speaker as she addressed him.
Later Primarolo had to shout at the top of her voice to restore some order.
It was a feisty performance from Primarolo, and Betty Boothroyd would have been proud.
Article Comments
It looks like she is turning out to be as successful at controlling MPs as she was at controlling Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue when she was a Treasury minister - and her failures then haunt us even today!
Observer
3rd Feb 2011 at 3:47 pm
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