Being

heard

I was recently visited by an angry constituent who was appalled at the treatment received in the Commons Chamber by Paul Maynard the Conservative MP for Blackpool North.

Mr Maynard suffers from cerebral palsy that affects the way he speaks and walks. It makes no difference to his ability to serve as a very effective MP and whenever I have heard him speak it has always been with force, eloquence and considerable intelligence.

The incident that got my constituent so riled occurred when Mr Maynard was speaking on education. Several opposition MPs began to mock him — barracking and pulling faces. Like the vast majority of those present I was absolutely dumb struck — unlike the gallant Mr Maynard who ploughed on regardless and with considerable dignity.

This incident has to some degree thrown the spotlight on MPs' behaviour in the Chamber more generally. It is often suggested that we all behave little better than unruly school children and that there is far too much 'Punch and Judy' in debates. I actually disagree. Having been an MP for around a year my observations are that the Chamber is a place where debate is often at its best when it is highly charged and sometimes a little theatrical.

Prime Minister's Questions is very much like this and this, of course, is the encounter that most members of the public view. Much of the rest of the time in the Chamber is taken up with quieter more measured debate but this seldom gets shown on the news.

The Chamber is a special place – often alive and whole with its noise, its cat-calls, its theatre and injudicious comment – but it was at its worst in the shabby treatment of Mr Paul Maynard MP – at that precise moment it was dead and broken.