Lucy Powell
Labour MP Lucy Powell royally slammed the Tories in the Commons today as she accused the party of bringing politics into “disrepute”.
In a speech to MPs following her appointment as shadow leader of the House of Commons, Powell took aim at the string of scandals that have plagued the Conservative in recent months.
The MP for Manchester Central, who takes over from Thangam Debbonaire, was appointed following Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet reshuffle on Monday.
Addressing MPs during Business Questions, Powell began: “After 13 years of this government, our politics has increasingly been dragged into disrepute by cronyism, scandals, and as I’m afraid always happens with a Tory, by sleaze.”
Her comments come just hours after Chris Pincher announced his intention to stand down as an MP after losing his appeal against a suspension for drunkenly groping two men.
The former Tory whip said he has “made arrangements to resign and leave the Commons” as he did not want to put any “further uncertainty” on his constituents in his Staffordshire constituency of Tamworth.
The Commons Standards committee recommended the suspension in July after it found the MP’s conduct last summer was “profoundly damaging” and amounted to an abuse of power.
Just last week, polling released by Byline Times revealed a majority of voters believe that Rishi Sunak’s government is “institutionally corrupt”.
According to new polling, 53% of voters told Omnisis that they agreed with the statement that the government is now ‘institutionally corrupt’, with just 15% disagreeing.
The poll also found that most voters believe that corruption in government has gotten worse in the UK over recent years.
Powell said: “This House, our sacred seat of democracy has become, I’m sorry to say, an afterthought to a press release, a place to be avoided at all costs by ministers if they can, disrespected, disregarded by disrespected ministers in this place.
“To be candid, we’ve seen rule-breaking, evasiveness and spin. Despite Mr Speaker’s valiant efforts, and often successful efforts to the contrary, ministers don’t seem to know what their power is for anymore.
“With a zombie Parliament where nothing meaningful has happened – a government adrift. Not my verdict, but that of the former member for Mid Bedfordshire.”
The shadow leader of the House of Common’s remarks follow similar criticism levelled against the education secretary on Tuesday, as the school concrete crisis mounts.
Bridget Phillipson blamed the government’s response to concerns surrounding dangerous materials in public buildings in a blistering House of Commons speech following reports the government knew about the dangers posed by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in 2022.
The shadow education secretary was responding to a statement given by Gillian Keegan to MPs on new guidance for RAAC in education settings.
Pressure is mounting on the education secretary over the crumbling school scandal after it was revealed that potentially thousands more schools and colleges could be impacted by the presence RAAC.
Keegan was forced to apologise on Monday after claiming others had failed to tackle the crisis in an expletive-laden outburst captured after an interview on ITV News.
Powell continued: “Let’s be honest, there’s plenty of material. Just this week, the education secretary’s hot mic interest. But quite frankly Madam Deputy Speaker, it’s just funny anymore.
“It’s tragic to see this country’s reputation and potential trashed by a Tory government that has lingered too long.”
Related: Chris Pincher to quit as MP after losing Commons suspension appeal
