POINT OF IRONY

There is a wonderful sense of irony about the little snippet from the Commons Hansard concerning the Labour MP, John McDonnell.  It seems that Mr McDonnell, the Member of Parliament for Hayes & Harlington, became a victim of the added powers his authoritarian Labour Government have put in place allegedly tackle terrorism.  Read on and smile-

John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I wish to draw attention to the fact that when I left the sitting of Parliament on Friday and passed through Parliament square and into Birdcage walk, I was detained by the police on a stop and search on the basis of the use of anti-terrorism legislation. That follows on from what happened only a few weeks ago during our campaign against the third runway. One of our campaigners, who was simply taking photographs of the properties that will be demolished if the proposed third runway goes ahead, was also detained, stopped and searched under anti-terrorism legislation.

I make this point of order to draw attention to the fact that the use of that power is becoming random and affecting Members and our constituents in a way that I believe is in complete contradiction to the way in which we legislated, which was for the selective use of the powers to prevent terrorism rather than to harass MPs and the overall community.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that that is not immediately a matter for the Chair, but his points are firmly on record and I am sure that Mr. Speaker will want to take note of them.

I haven't had chance to check his voting records on this legislation, but it wouldn't surprise me if he voted for the legislation he is now moaning about.