Blackberrys out of order

From the BBC: Alistair Burt, Conservative MP for North East Bedfordshire, read out the text of a letter he had received on a Blackberry during a debate in the House of Commons on anti-social behaviour.

The Deputy Speaker Sir Michael Lord spotted Mr Burt’s device and asked: “Order. I wasn’t actually watching precisely then – were you actually reading from an electronic device.”
Mr Burt replied: “I am, which I think I’m allowed to do in the chamber.”
But Sir Michael said: “I think that is to be discouraged. I won’t say any more at this point, but I’d like to refer to it. I think that is to be discouraged. You can continue with your speech.”
Mr Burt replied: “Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. It was a letter to me in a different form.”
But Sir Michael hit back: “Order. The use of an electronic device for reading from during a speech, I think – I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Categories Uncategorised

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.