For a while I too had got caught in the whole spin business about “our lazy parliamentarians who have delayed the end of summer recess unashamedly”. Having rightly sussed the nationalist ploy to survive to the start of the recess and then hopefully plot the end of Franco over the summer, I wrongly assumed that the October return to business was something extraordinary and that this year’s parliamentary break was a little OTT. Enter Fausto the nitpicker and lo and behold.. there’s no such thing as an abnormal October return to work. It turns out that parliament summer breaks normally end on or around the 1st of October.
There is, after all, nothing strange for parliamentarians to get back to school almost a month after the last school bus started its routine rounds.
For your perusal here is the list of opening sittings after summer recess for the current legilature:
In 2011 the parliamentarians brought their sun-tanned behinds back to the seats on the 3rd of October.
In 2010 they left their yachts and summer houses on the 29th of September.
2009 marked their “earliest” return to their seats – the 28th September.
In 2008, the first post-election relative minority government and opposition sat down for work after summer on the 29th September.
There. Franco. No need for so much fuss aye?
2 replies on “Those Lazy Parliamentarians?”
If Parliament was lazy last year and in the previous years, does this mean that it is not lazy this year when the part time members sitting in this institution are enjoying generous increases in their salaries, allowances and pensions?
Gone are the days I would be stupid enough to try to talk reason with you David. Yes. The last one you said. You are right. Maybe. Or maybe not. And the owl and the pussycat crossed swords with the pope’s bastard son on the back of a camel dancing on a pinhead (while choking on the splinters). With apologies to Beck.