Paddy Tipping attends celebration of Countryside and Rights of Way Act

Paddy Tipping was one of 400 guests celebrating the new Act, which gives increased freedom of access to the countryside, on the day it came into force. This event in Derbyshire Peak District National Park, was not attended by Alun Michael following threats from pro-hunt protestors, but in spite of being one of 4 MPs named as targets, Paddy was not put off.

Most Recent Commons Speech

With Parliament in recess at the moment till October, news is a bit slow at the moment - an ideal opportunity for a retrospective. Paddy last spoke in the Commons on 22 July 2004 at a Fisheries debate. That may sound like a long time, but according to theyworkforyou.com, he is about average. He spoke in parliament 53 times in the last year — 294th out of 658 MPs.

This particular appearance was to ask Ben Bradshaw MP:

What progress did my hon. Friend make at the International Whaling Commission on the demise of so-called scientific whaling and, more importantly, on developing a conservation agenda?

It would appear that the Japanese are trying to increase their 'scientific' whaling, and are lobbying other nations to support them.

As Chairman of the sub-committee on environment, food and rural affairs, this is obviously within his remit, but Paddy Tipping also appears to have a personal interest in areas such as the green belt, conservation and sustainable energy.

You can read the whole debate here.

Paddy Tipping targeted by hunt protestors

Paddy Tipping MP was one of four MPs named by an anonymous caller, who threatened that their constituency offices would be 'trashed' because of their involvement in the campaign to ban hunting with dogs. Nottinghamshire police will be increasing surveillance on his office, and of the neighbouring constituency of Geoff Hoon who was another of the named MPs.

Paddy votes to ban hunting

At a debate beseiged by pro-hunt protestors, Paddy Tipping was one of 356 MPs who voted to reintroduce a bill for a total ban on hunting with dogs. This would come into force in 2006 to allow time for existing hunts to be wound up.

Previously the bill has been overturned by the House of Lords, but today Alun Michael MP specifically threatened the use of the Parliament Act, a long-disused piece of legislation which would enable the Commons to overrule them.

Register of Members' Interests

The Register of Members' Interests can now be accessed on-line. This exists:

"to provide information of any pecuniary interest or other material benefit which a Member receives which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or actions taken in his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament"

Whilst many MPs' entries are a catalogue of junkets, non-executive directorships and highly paid speeches, Paddy Tipping's entry is a modest Vice-President of the Ramblers' Association. He receives no payment for this work.

Opposition to Top Wighay development

Paddy Tipping MP is opposing the development of the council owned Top Wighay Farm, north of Hucknall. Local residents in the adjoining villages of Linby and Papplewick fear that the proposed 2,000 homes, 186 acres of industrial units and a 1,000-space park-and-ride site, will result in these rural villages being swallowed up by Hucknall. Paddy has arranged a meeting with Gedling Borough Council, which will also be attended by the Greenbelt Action Group, formed from five local parish councils.

Full details of the development can be seen at www.linby.org

See the location of the proposed development on Streetmap

Read the article in Hucknall Today

Why blog an MP?

I believe that people should be more involved in politics. Not in the sense of joining a political party, but by being aware of current issues, knowing who their MP is, and knowing what their stance is on these issues. That way, when it comes to an election they can make an informed democratic choice based on the candidates' policies and how much they trust them to appropriately represent their views. Otherwise voting will be based on random chance, tribal loyalty and hearsay.

The web offers an opportunity to be better informed than ever before about what is being done on your behalf. You can find a profile of your MP (ePolitix.com), you can look up what they have said in parliament (theyworkforyou.com)and what they have voted for (publicwhip.org.uk).

What is often missing is a general picture of what your MP thinks - some MPs vote consistently with the party whip and speak rarely. The profile may tell you how many children they have and where they went to school, but to be honest, that's not really all that important. Getting a clear picture of their stance and the issues that they are currently campaigning on is difficult, without piecing it together from dozens of disparate sources. This blog and other blogs in the bloggerheads campaign exist to provide that information in a single place.

Inception

Inspired by the good work at Bloggerheads I have started this blog for my local Nottinghamshire MP.

So far, I have only got as far as setting up the blog, and adding a few links. Rest assured, though, there will be more to come.