Bag-carriers united! Or, maybe not

Interesting article in today's Times about those whom MPs choose to give access to the gilded opulence and bar facilities of the Parliamentary Estate. This follows on from yesterday's article that reported that some Lords are giving Parliamentary passes (which are worth more than their weight in gold) to various members of our bretheren in political consultancy. The absence of a Register of Lords' Staff Interests means that nobody has hitherto known for sure what financial interests Lords' staff have - a state of affairs which is, frankly, ludicrous. Commons staff are registered up to the groin; why on earth should the situation be different for the bag-carriers of our ermine clad comrades in another place?

This was covered - in predictably apocalyptic terms - by Guido Fawkes who accused various individuals of having their "snouts in the trough...democracy is bad...bring back the state of nature...oooh you're being mean to me - I'm off to cwy and then get my Big Lawyers on you." For the first time ever perhaps, I do find myself in agreement with Mr Fawkes on this one.

Today the Times covered the issue of MPs handing out their passes to individuals who - it has to be said - do not strike me so much as nature's bag-carriers - labouring at the coalface of representative democracy on behalf of an elected Member - as those who might like the freedom of a Parliamentary Pass to access the rich networking opportunties so vital to the ascent up the greasy pole.

There were some familiar names in the article but I was most interested when a comrade emailed me to point out that one such grateful recipient of a Parliamentary Pass is no other than Samuel Coates, the deputy editor of Conservative Home. His MP? Why, one Mad Nad Dorries!

Now, what's interesting about this is that a couple of months ago ConHome sycophantically linked to Nad's post entitled "first born" - a vomit-fest of epic and previously unscaled proportions. But ConHome was smitten: "Nadine is a star of the parliamentary party and it shouldn't be long before a newspaper offers her a regular platform for her views." An extract from the post:

"Newcastle was cold, wet, and, windy, no surprises there then.

"I headed towards the monument in the town centre where I had arranged to meet my daughter. She was late, as always.

"Has the casualness of youth and the perpetuity of time ever had a synchronized relationship?"

Yers. Her posts about her knickers, her views on travellers, abortion, as well as how to deal with sex-offenders have also made me laugh and weep in equal measure, although probably not in the way Ms Dorries would like.

In addition to that, Nad also won the Best Parliamentary Blog award at...ConHome! What a coincidence, eh? Were the other Tory blog contenders even more downright awful, or are more sinister forces at work?

I demand an Independent Inquiry(TM) or a Kevin Costner film on this conspiracy, immediately!