MP asked to explain backing for non-existent bill

12.00.00am GMT Mon 21st Dec 2009

LABOUR MP for Blaydon, David Anderson, has been accused of being "asleep on the job" after he called on fellow MPs to back a Parliamentary bill nearly a year after it had been abandoned.

Mr Anderson signed an out-of-date Early Day Motion in Parliament on 11th November which called on MPs to back the Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau Bill "as a long overdue reform".

The motion went on to urge "all hon. Members and the Government to give the Bill a second reading on 13 March 2009 and a fast passage through committee."

However, despite the call for action coming 8 months after the vote was supposed to be held, Mr Anderson himself was not present for any of the votes held on 13th March 2009.

And to add to Mr Anderson's embarrassment, the bill was abandoned by its sponsor, Andrew Dismore MP, before its second reading could take place.

Now Liberal Democrats in Blaydon constituency are demanding that Mr Anderson explain himself.

"I wonder if Mr Anderson has been asleep in the job," said Dr Jonathan Wallace, a Liberal Democrat Councillor in Blaydon constituency.

"It is bizarre that he demands fellow MPs should attend a debate and vote a full 8 months after the date set for them had passed. It is even more bizarre that he demanded his colleagues be present even though he himself wasn't there to vote.

"But the most ludicrous point is that the bill was abandoned before 13th March. He is therefore calling on colleagues to attend a debate 8 months after it was scheduled to take place on a vote that never saw light of day!

"I think Blaydon deserves representation that is far more on the ball than Mr Anderson appears to be. I would also be very interested to hear Mr Anderson's explanation for his bizarre behaviour."