Since their election via last year’s European Parliament elections, the cohort of Brexit Party MEPs has wasted no time in telling the world how terrible the EU is, how wasteful, how they have no control over what it does (not true) and how the pay and perks are so excessive (well, for them, maybe true). The result has been a steady low moaning sound.
Martin Daubney
There was perma-smiling Richard Tice (whether he had his handcuffs with him is not known) claiming “The bottom line is that MEPs are just window dressing. Nothing more, nothing less. An inconvenient but necessary doff of the cap towards fig-leaf democracy. We cannot propose or repeal any laws. We have little, if any, power to change what is proposed by the EU Commission”. Try voting something down.
And Alexandra Phillips whinged “So I went to the meeting and one chair and vice chairs were automatically appointed because they were the only candidates stepping forward … Remember this Parliament is 60 percent new MEPs who haven’t had experience in these areas before and so don’t know the systems and aren’t putting themselves forward”. Try getting off yer backside and doing some research beforehand.
But neither of these less than totally august individuals has managed the sheer brazen dishonesty of their colleague Martin Daubney, who has tried to suggest that Eurostar business class extras are paid for by British taxpayers. I kid you not.
“For MEPs used to the high life there’s always time for one more free drink before boarding the gravy train home. It’s a robotic cocktail mixer - RoboCocktail - in the Eurostar business lounge. It’s all paid for by you the taxpayer. Next level absurdity!” he announced yesterday, adding for good measure “We could do with a bunch of these at Parliament Square on Jan 31st. Cheers Brexiteers!” And there he was with his cocktail.
But, as Captain Blackadder might have observed, there was only one thing wrong with this claim - it was bollocks. The cocktail machine is for all Business Class Eurostar travellers, not just MEPs. And Eurostar is not taxpayer-subsidised. So We The People are not necessarily paying for Martin Daubney to video himself sticking what Dame Edna would have called his “dirty digits” into the ice cubes before having his cocktail mixed.
Hence Claire Savage’s question “Is it compulsory to use this? Was it compulsory to travel first class? Do you have any evidence at all that any MEPs have used this? Do you trot around first class lounges in airports horrified at the facilities or just Eurostar? Are you aware it's not only MEPs who use Eurostar?” And it got worse.
Paul Tyreman added “It's paid for by business class fares. You don't have to use it, but there's a sound reason most UK MEPS do. Please don't project your own grasping ways on to your colleagues”. Well, quite. Daubney could always go and sit with the ordinary folk - and bill a considerably smaller sum to the EU. But it is his choice not to do so.
Martin Daubney is not only dishonest, he’s full of crap. No surprise there, then.
Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at
2 comments:
For the avoidance of doubt, the "it" in my tweet that MEPs have good reason to use is business class, not the cocktail machine.
What. A. Twat.
Post a Comment