A Very Naughty Boy

The House of Commons has yet shown itself yet again - to be a complete joke in dealing with rule breaking and bad behaviour from MPs.

Jack Dromey - the Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington - has been forced to apologise for his behaviour, but so what?

Because his 'punishment' was decided by his fellow MPs - who have an obvious incentive not to come down too hard on one of their own - as it might set a precedent  others have to follow.

Now Jack was accused of breaching House of Commons rules by failing to register his outside earnings properly - two separate payments from Unite the trade union worth £27,867 and £30,000 respectively.

Now Jack Dromey is an old hand - a more experienced 'new MP' is hard to imagine figure - with Jack as the former deputy general secretary of Unite - a former Treasurer of the Labour party itself.

Jack is also married to Harriet Harman MP - an long-serving figure in the House of Commons, previously a government minister and Labour deputy leader.

So surely if Jack was a bit green behind the ears, Harriet would have kept him right? 

But no it seems that Jack made 'serious' but 'unintentional errors' - which were punished by Jack standing up and admitting to fellow MPs - that he had been a very naughty boy.

Beyond that he got away Scot-free - and no one seemed concerned that he was effectively claiming to be in two places at one time - which doesn't seem like a very convincing explanation to me.

In any event Unite members will be interested to know that Jack claimed still to be working for the union - from the day of his election (in May) until 30 October 2010 - for 10 to 15 hours a week - which allegedly explains the £27,867. 

The separate payment of £30,000 was apparently made - in recognition of Jack's long years of service to Unite and the TGWU.

I wonder if this £30,000 was paid tax free - but in any event it's a big improvement on what most folks get when they leave a job.

Here's what I said back in November 2011.

United We Stand (November 1st 2011)

Jack Dromey - the former deputy General Secretary of Unite - and since May 2010 a Labour MP - was in the newspapers at the weekend.

The Sunday Times reported that Jack has been referred to the parliamentary standards watchdog - over claims that he failed to declare a salary of almost £30,000 from his old trade union employer - Unite.

Jack received the pay between May 2010 - when he was first elected to the House of Commons - and October that same year.

Parliamentary rules state that this payment should have been registered within four weeks of receipt - yet the Sunday Times reports that it remained hidden for 17 months - until September 2011.

Up until that point - Jack Dromey stated in succesive registers that:

"I am leaving this position (at Unite) and have declined my salary in the meantime"

As regular readers will know Jack is married to Harriet Harman - a very experienced MP and Labour's deputy leader - so he didn't have to go too far for advice.

Yet it was only in October 2011 that Jack finally declared the earnings - retrospectively - and the register now reads:

"Deputy general secretary of Unite union until 30 October 2010. Between the general election and 30 October 2010, I received £27,867 in salary which included pay in lieu of notice."

Now that's quite remarkable.

Because Jack would presumably have been drawing his MP's salary as well - straight after the election - so how could he possibly have done two jobs at the same time?

Also Jack was selected to fight a safe Labour seat in Birmingham - which he was bound to win - so what's all this about pay in lieu of notice?

I imagine the grassroot members of Unite - will be asking their union leaders for a suitable explanation.