Dennis Skinner

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Dennis Edward Skinner (born February 11, 1932, Clay Cross, Derbyshire) is a British politician, and Labour Member of Parliament for Bolsover since 1970.

He was chairman of the Labour Party between 1988 and 1989, and has sat on the National Executive Committee in most years since 1978. He identifies with the left of his party, is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, and was once described by The Economist as a "hard-left oddball".^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Political views 2 Parliamentarian 3 Quotes 4 External links

Political views

Skinner's politics have been influenced by his background. The Bolsover area was formerly dominated by coal mining, and Skinner began his working life as a miner, although he won a place at Tupton Grammar School when he was 11. He later attended Ruskin College.

He became leader of the Derbyshire area of the National Union of Mineworkers between 1966 and 1970. He often tells the (possibly apocryphal) anecdote of turning up for work at his colliery after he had been elected as an MP, refusing to see this as his new occupation. This is why Skinner refuses to miss any sitting in the House of Commons, saying that "if you missed a shift at the pit, you would get the sack". He also refuses to adopt the Pairing system in which he can pair with a Conservative MP and if one misses a vote, the other one can, saying he won't cover for them whilst they "Go swanning off to Ascot or to their boardrooms". As well as this, Skinner holds the distinguished position of being an MP who claims the least expenses from the government, being in third of the 'bottom five' claimers. In The 2004 - 05 sitting of the House, claiming the the least expenses for an MP who served the full year. [1]

Avowedly, he is one of the few members whose politics remain strongly "class" based. During the years when Margaret Thatcher was British Prime Minister he persistently argued that the Labour Party should fight for the working-class as strongly as he thought the Conservatives were fighting for the middle-class. He was a strong supporter of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and its then leader, Arthur Scargill, in the year long miners strike of 1984-85. Later, he broke with Scargill when the Socialist Labour Party was formed. In November 1990 when Thatcher made her final Prime Minister's Question Time appearance, veteran Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) Alan Beith (then Treasury Spokesperson for the Lib Dems) asked a question about the European Single Bank, and Skinner quipped "No, she's going to be the Governor". Thatcher herself has called Skinner a "Marvellous Parlimentarian".

He frequently takes a liberal or 'left wing' stance regarding social issues. Having voted for gay rights on every single bill in the House, Skinner has established himself as a leading Member advocating equality for homosexuals [2]. Furthermore, throughout his career he has maintained a strongly pro-choice stance on abortion. On several occasions he has enabled the defeat of moves to reduce the number of weeks the operation can be legally performed in Britain, by talking out the measure (filibustering) and other tactics. One such example was on January 20, 1989, when he held up proceedings by trying to move a writ for a by-election in the constituency of Richmond (Yorks), which was incidentally won by later Conservative leader William Hague.[3] He has explained his views by noting that his mother was often pregnant; Skinner has many siblings.

Skinner has also proven that he is not unwilling to vote against government policy produced by his own party, chosing to remain clasically left wing, rebelling against notable issues. In 2003 he joined the sizable number of Labour MPs who voted against the Iraq War, further, he later went on to rebel against the party line when he chose to vote against government policy that intended to allow terror suspects to be detainted without trial for 90 days. Skinner has also rebelled against his party on other issues, in March 2007 he joined the 88 other Labour MPs who voted against government policy to renew the Trident Nuclear Missile System. Skinner seemingly remains loyal to the old Labour policies which he originally was elected into office with, and which can be reflected by his membership of the Socialist Campaign Group.

He is known for his republican (i.e., anti-monarchist) sentiments, although unlike other Labour left-wingers such as Tony Benn, Kevin McNamara, Ken Livingstone and Clare Short, he has never publicly expressed support for Irish republicanism.

Skinner has often made sarcastic comments upon the arrival of Black Rod (the equivalent of the Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Lords and symbol of Royal authority) in the Chamber of the House of Commons. He advocates outright abolition of the House of Lords. Black Rod comes each year into the Commons chamber to summon the House to hear the Queen's speech in the House of Lords. In 2000, he shouted out "Tell her to read the Guardian!" - the Guardian newspaper running a series at the time trying to get support for repealing various laws relating to the monarchy. Earlier, in May 1992, he told the Queen to "Pay your taxes" at the State opening of Parliament. At the time this was a big issue.

In 2003, he suggested that the Speaker "bar the doors" after Black Rod had arrived, a practice that is normally used to block late-arriving MPs from casting their votes after the division bells have been sounded. The tongue-in-cheek suggestion by Skinner was scoffed off by the generally good-humoured Speaker, Michael Martin. In the 2005 State Opening of Parliament, the MP shouted out, after Black Rod asked the Commons to be at the Lords to hear the Queen, "has she brought Camilla (the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales) with her?" to much laughter from many in the House. In the 2006 State Opening of Parliament, Skinner replied to Black Rods invitation, with "Is Helen Mirren on standby?". The quip brought laughter from the House of Commons, being in reference to the portrayal by Helen Mirren of Elizabeth II in the 2006 film, The Queen. The BBC Political Commentator Huw Edwards called the quip, "cheap, but funny".

Parliamentarian

Usually sitting on the first seat of the front bench below the gangway in the Commons in a distinctive sports jacket (whilst most other MPs wear suits), Skinner is one of the best known MPs, and has been a particularly assiduous member of the House of Commons. He gained his sobriquet "the Beast of Bolsover" for falling foul of the procedures of Parliament, many of which are in his view archaic and contemptible.

Skinner has been suspended from Parliament on at least ten occasions, usually for unparliamentary language when attacking opponents. Infractions have included:

• In 1992, referring to the Minister of Agriculture John Gummer as "slimy" and a "wart".
• In 1995, accusing the government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.
• On December 8 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of the Tories", a reference to allegations published in the News of the World of cocaine use by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne. [4]
• On April 20 2006, accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher Theresa May "because she's a Tory". [5] [6]

Quotes

"Tell the House of Lords to go to hell."

- Dennis Skinner during the September 15 fox hunting debate in the House of Commons. [7]

"I thought you were taking Marquand with you."

- Heckling Roy Jenkins in 1976 when, during his farewell speech to the Parliamentary Labour Party before leaving to become President of the European Commission, he said: "I leave this party without rancour." David Marquand was then the MP for Ashfield and a close ally of Jenkins, who famously pronounced his Rs like Ws.

"When I called the right hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dr. Owen) a pompous sod, Mr. Speaker said to me, 'You had better withdraw that'. I said I would withdraw 'pompous', but said, Mr. Speaker 'That's not the word I'm looking for.' There was laughter in the House and everyone thought that I had hit the nail on the head. I thought that that was a real parliamentary triumph, but Mr. Speaker thought differently. He said, 'Off you go,' and I did not get a chance to reply." [8]

"She's going to be the governor"

- responding to a question directed at Mrs Thatcher during her very last Prime Minister's Question Time which called upon her to condemn the European Central Bank

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