Quote:
Originally Posted by Gayle
I'm looking forward to them all coming on here later to explain why the Independents decided to abstain when it was supposedly a certainty that they would vote for Labour.
BTW - if you wonder whether the Indendents are working as a clique, you only have to look at all their election campaign leaflets - all printed by the same printer to the same format - gives you a clue  |
The Independents have never made any secret of the fact that they are, for want of a better expression, a group of individuals with a common interest. They work together as a group but still remain completely autonomous within themselves.
The whole point of going independent is to remove yourself from party politics and just get on with the job, which in fairness to them they have done. Abstaining today was merely a way of extricating themselves from an inevitable situation that the whole chamber was forced into by the Conservatives.
If Paul Barton had not been dragooned into line by the Tories then it may well have been a different story.