MP banned from using cow as prop

Westmonster has been thinking. Maybe this is where George Monbiot went wrong: instead of just attempting to carry out a citizen's arrest on John Bolton the old fashioned way, he should have burst into the tent on horseback, thereby capitalising on what little surprise he'd granted himself. Added bonus - the neighing and whinnying of the horse would have distracted everyone from the nigh-on supernatural glow of smugness that perpetually radiates from Monbiot like a pulsing neon aura.

Yes, sir - bringing along an animal to a protest is certainly the way forward. Unless you're Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, that is, in which case you won't be allowed under any circumstances. Clear?

Kawczynski - also the Chairman of the APPG for Dairy Farmers - was taking part in a demonstration outside Parliament to raise awareness of the bovine TB crisis (evidently this is an issue that needs serious profile-raising, as it seems to be gathering roughly the same level of media coverage as the All-Action Wolverhampton Local Tiddlywinks Tournament).

Daniel had hoped to bring along a cow, to presumably a) provide eye-catching visual leverage, and b) act as an indicator of what a cow looks like for the benefit of any particularly dim MPs who happened to be watching. Yet the authorities - those dastardly cow-hating pen-pushers - wouldn't let him do it. They wrote to him saying:

"I do appreciate the seriousness of the issue that you are dealing with, and would in any case wish to support any Member of the House in any way that I could. But I have to tell you that animals are simply not allowed onto the grounds, with the sole exceptions of guide dogs, sniffer dogs and police horses. The House would not wish to establish a precedent for further exceptions, however important the cause concerned."

All of which seems pretty reasonable ... yet Danny-boy remains mightily annoyed:

"I am furious that they are preventing me from highlighting the appalling situation of bovine TB in this country. Thousands of Dairy farmers around England are going bust as a result of this appalling disease and the government is not lifting a finger to deal with the crisis."

Next week: George Galloway campaigns for the withdrawal of troops in Iraq by bringing along a giant inflatable Saddam Hussein. Or his 'indefatigabuddy', as he insists on calling it.

Written by C J Davies on 3 Jun 2008 1:05 AM. Permalink