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Many moons ago, Sir Arbuthnot heard a cracking tale from the Women and Equality committee\u2019s March trip to New York, for the UN Commission on the Status of Women.<\/p>\n
The trip, as advertised on the committee\u2019s website, was ostensibly to \u201chighlight the deterioration of women and girls\u2019 access to contraception and timely, accurate and safe abortion advice and services across the world as \u2018of particular concern\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it sounds like the official agenda failed to hold the attention of some MPs on the trip.<\/p>\n
At the time one MP got a tip-off, then passed on to Beachcomber, that some of the group had received a serious bollocking for slipping away from scheduled taxpayer-funded meetings in order to go and enjoy the bright lights of Broadway.<\/p>\n
Three MPs – all hard-left socialists – reportedly skipped a meeting with the ambassador on Tuesday, March 7, preferring instead to watch a performance of Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Sir Arbuthnot failed to get hold of any other tripgoers at the time to confirm the story, until this week when a second source confirmed it to be true.<\/p>\n
In New York you can be a new man\u2026 but being an elected MP is a bit more difficult.<\/p>\n
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This week the SNP once again came under fire, after it emerged that sex-pest MP Patrick Grady had been allowed to return to the party\u2019s frontbencher as a spokesman during a Westminster debate.<\/p>\n
Mr Grady responded for the party during an Urgent Question in the Commons, despite having no formal frontbench role following his suspension last year.<\/p>\n
The SNP told the Scottish Sun he is not a spokesperson, but Nat MPs \u201coperate on a \u2018rota\u2019 to respond to unplanned Commons business\u201d.<\/p>\n
What the party didn\u2019t confess is that the individual who came up with said spokesman rota was none other than the 19-year-old staffer Mr Grady inappropriately touched on a night out in 2016, which led to his suspension from the Commons run the first place.<\/p>\n
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Which GB News presenter refuses to host a regular former MP contributor to the channel after a mid-naughties studio punch-up on TalkRADIO?<\/p>\n
Last week it emerged that Michael Gove\u2019s flagship renters\u2019 reform bill, which primarily hopes to end “no-fault” evictions in England, has once again been put on ice.<\/p>\n
Whoever\u2019s to blame, it sounds like it may not affect MPs very much either way.<\/p>\n
Another key clause of the bill is to give greater rights to tenants to own a pet in their rental property, ensuring landlords \u201cdo not unreasonably withhold consent\u201d when a request is made.<\/p>\n
By coincidence, Sir Arbuthnot mentioned this reform to one MP at the recent Westminster Dog of the Year competition.<\/p>\n
The MP freely admitted \u201cmost MPs just ignore and break the rule anyway\u201d…<\/p>\n
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Talking of the Westminster Dog of the Year competition, Sir Arbuthnot got chatting with contestant Mark Fletcher, the Bolsover MP who submitted his miniature poodle Delta.<\/p>\n
Given Mr Fletcher is a stalwart 2019 intake Tory MP and Brexiteer, it was natural that Delta should be dolled up in a fetching Union Jack bowtie for the competition.<\/p>\n
Asked if this was a pure breed Red Wall pup, Mr Fletcher joked that the poodle is undoubtedly a Brexiteer\u2026 because it hates Frenchies.<\/p>\n