Many people across the UK will say that politicians are out of touch, it’s part of the run-of-the-mill attitude we have towards MPs in this country.
The majority of people find them unpopular, untrustworthy, and unrelatable – shown in the fact that not a single politician has a favourability rating higher than Andy Burnham’s 35%, as per YouGov.
Really, they do themselves no favours. Plenty of us are still living in an enraged hangover of Covid’s Partygate, when politicians wined and dined as we sat indoors watching relatives die.
So, does it really come as a surprise to anybody that when the most normal and relatable person is elected to Parliament, they experience an almost instant culture shock.
Green MP Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton by-election on 27 February, defeating both Labour and Reform, whose candidate Matt Goodwin took the loss predictably badly.
The former plumber has been an MP for just a couple of months, and already she;s calling out the behaviour of her colleagues in Westminster, notably accusing other MPs of drinking on the job.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with PoliticsJOE, Spencer spoke of smelling alcohol on people while in Westminster.
“I’m really uneasy about it – I noticed this the other day,” Spencer explained, “you can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes”.
She continued: “There’s a room where I walk past and I doubled back and looked in because people are just sat having a drink.”
If it doesn’t unnerve you that legislators in the UK are making crucial decisions about the future of the country, its people and foreign policy, then nothing will.
We all know alcohol and its effects, it’s not exactly the same as having a hot cup of coffee or, if you’re fancy, a ginger shot – it alters emotions, changes impulses and ultimately affects decision making.
Seriously, are there any professions in the UK these days where it is acceptable to be drinking on the job outside of being a pub landlord, brewer, or bartender?
It is frowned upon for 99% of people to be drinking at work, so why is it acceptable for the MPs who represent us to do so?
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Ask any constituent if they would be happy with the person elected to represent them drinking at work, it’s unlikely most would be best pleased.
And, even if it’s just the odd pint here and there, why should these people be allowed to bend the societal norms to suit them just because it’s “what’s always been done”?
Spencer highlighted this double-standard as she said she “can’t imagine if a cleaner did that or someone working in a bank had a few drinks and then went back to work a bit smelling of alcohol – That wouldn’t happen.”
This hasn’t stopped some coming out to defend MPs knocking back the drinks in Westminster.
In the wake of Spencer calling out these cultural issues in Westminster, you have people saying “well Winston Churchill used to drink all the time, and he’s our greatest ever leader”.
Well, a lot of Churchill’s drinking has been mythicised, as the Churchill Project explains, and ultimately his drinking was a reflection of a time when it was much more acceptable.
Work place attitudes have changed massively since then, and rightly so.
The real issue here isn’t just that lawmakers are drinking, but that they are actually defending their right to do so and what it represents.
All the whining has done is exemplify even further the archaic in-grouping of politicians in what is effectively an old boys’ club.
The second a regular person with a normal job enters the Westminster bubble, the media and MPs are up in arms – and let’s be honest they’re probably not happy it’s coming from a woman either.
Headlines trying to turn a very real concern into a smear against the Greens just show how much the establishment fears the rise of a party trying to represent more than just donors and the elite.
The Sun for example completely shirked the issue at hand, writing, “Green MP slams Westminster drinking culture despite party support for legalising heroin and crack,” turning the discourse away from a very fair issue that has been raised.
Leader of the Reform party, and currently the most likely to be the next Prime Minister, Nigel Farage, echoed this unhinged stance and took the Donald Trump tactic of distracting from the topic at hand.
He wrote on X: “The Greens are happy to legalise heroin and crack, but now we learn they think an afternoon pint is a step too far. Make it make sense.”
Well, Nigel, let’s make it make sense – taking heroin and crack at work is a step too far – obviously – and so is drinking alcohol too, it doesn’t come much simpler than that, captain common sense.
Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty also weighed in, deciding to take aim at Spencer for the amount she has spoken in Parliament and weirdly describing her as an ‘NPC’ (non-playable character.).
A number of Labour voices have also been defending the Westminster drinking – despite the fact polling shows most Brits agree with Spencer on this one.
Labour MP for York Outer, Luke Charters, wrote on X: “Breaking news: MPs are human and sometimes have a drink. Classic clickbait farming.
“MPs work long days for constituents, and yes, sometimes share a drink in the evening with colleagues. Last week I was scandalously spotted with… an alcohol-free pint or two between votes.
“But sure, let’s talk about that instead of the Greens’ wacky policies. Trying to distract us, maybe?”
A message to Labour MPs – this is not the hill you should be dying on.
MPs should be held to account because that is ultimately what democracy is about.
It seems there really is ‘one rule for us and one rule for them.’
But the rule for them should be that they are held to an absolutely higher standard than the rest of us – that is how we will truly make Britain better.