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Article: Labour's Hogg roast. (censure of UK Agricultural Minister Douglas Hogg)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 15, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ON FEBRUARY 17th, soon after 10pm, tellers for the "ayes" and the "noes" will ceremonially report to Madam Speaker the House of Commons vote on a Labour motion to cut the salary of Douglas Hogg, John Major's agriculture minister, by [Pounds] 1,000 ($1,630). As ever in the Commons, the show conceals the substance.
Labour is not really interested in Mr Hogg's pay. But a parliamentary convention decrees that a reduction in salary is the procedural means by which a vote of censure on a minister is moved. Indeed, Labour is not really interested in Mr Hogg at all. Although the party is critical of his handling of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis since last ...