{"id":5231,"date":"2026-04-27T15:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=5231"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:48:07","slug":"westminster-boozing-defence-highlights-out-of-touch-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=5231","title":{"rendered":"Westminster boozing defence highlights out of touch Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div><!--$--><\/p>\n<p><h2>One normal person becomes an MP and suddenly there&#8217;s a culture shock<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose drop-cap \">\n<p>Many people across the UK will say that politicians are out of touch, it&#8217;s part of the run-of-the-mill attitude we have towards MPs in this country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The majority of people find them unpopular, untrustworthy, and unrelatable &#8211; shown in the fact that not a single politician has a favourability rating higher than Andy Burnham&#8217;s 35%, as per YouGov.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Really, they do themselves no favours while most of us are still living in an enraged hangover of Covid&#8217;s Partygate from when politicians wined and dined as we sat indoors watching relatives die.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:0\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:1\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>So, does it really come as a surprise to anybody that when the most normal and relatable person is elected to Parliament, they experience an almost instant culture shock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Green MP Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton byelection on 27 February, defeating the, at the time, incumbent Labour and heavy-canvassing of Reform who took the loss well as they went on to accuse the Greens of cheating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The former plumber has been an MP for only 59 days, and she&#8217;s already calling out the behaviour of her colleagues in Westminster, notably accusing other MPs of drinking on the job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:2\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Does Westminster have a drinking problem?\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6oeRr4ZzeKw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really uneasy about it &#8211; I noticed this the other day,&#8221; Spencer explained, &#8220;you can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>She continued: &#8220;There&#8217;s a room where I walk past and I doubled back and looked in because people are just sat having a drink.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>If it doesn&#8217;t unnerve you that legislators in the UK are making crucial decisions about the future of the country, its people and foreign policy, then nothing will.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>We all know alcohol and its effects, it&#8217;s not exactly the same as having a hot cup of coffee or, if you&#8217;re fancy, a ginger shot &#8211; it alters emotions, changes impulses and ultimately affects decision making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:3\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Seriously, are there any professions in the UK these days where it is acceptable to be drinking on the job outside of being a pub landlord, brewer, or bartender.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>It is frowned upon for 99% of people to be drinking at work, so why is it acceptable for the MPs who represent us to do so?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Ask any constituent if they would be happy with the person <em>elected to represent them<\/em> drinking at work, it&#8217;s unlikely most would be best pleased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>And, even if it&#8217;s just the odd pint here and there, why should these people be allowed to bend the societal norms to suit them just because it&#8217;s &#8220;what&#8217;s always been done&#8221;?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:4\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Spencer highlighted this double-standard as she said she &#8220;can&#8217;t imagine if a cleaner did that or someone working in a bank had a few drinks and then went back to work a bit smelling of alcohol &#8211;\u00a0That wouldn&#8217;t happen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Even worse, while MPs drink at work, scroll through their mobile phones in Commons and fail to pay taxes like the rest of us, people still want to defend them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>In the wake of Spencer calling out these cultural issues in Westminster, you have people saying &#8220;well Winston Churchill used to drink all the time, and he&#8217;s our greatest ever leader&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Work place attitudes have changed massively since then, and rightly so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:5\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:6\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The real issue here isn&#8217;t just that lawmakers are drinking, but that they are actually defending their right to do so and what it represents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>All the whining has done is exemplify even further the archaic in-grouping of politicians in what is effectively an old boys&#8217; club.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The second a regular person with a normal job whose campaign focused on hope and making the future brighter for everyday people, the media and MPs are up in arms &#8211; and let&#8217;s be honest they&#8217;re probably not happy it&#8217;s coming from a woman either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Headlines from the likes of The Sun trying to turn a very real concern into a smear against the Greens just show how much the establishment fears the rise of a party trying to represent more than just donors and the elite.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:7\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The Sun, one of the most read newspapers in the country, completely shirks the issue at hand, writing, &#8220;Green MP slams Westminster drinking culture despite party support for legalising heroin and crack,&#8221; turning the discourse away from a very fair issue that has been raised.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Leader of the Reform party, and currently the most likely to be the next Prime Minister, Nigel Farage, echoed The Sun&#8217;s stance and took the Donald Trump tactic of distracting from the topic at hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>He wrote on X: &#8220;The Greens are happy to legalise heroin and crack, but now we learn they think an afternoon pint is a step too far. Make it make sense.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Well, Nigel, let&#8217;s make it make sense &#8211; taking heroin and crack at work is a step too far &#8211; obviously &#8211; and so is drinking alcohol too, it doesn&#8217;t come much simpler than that, captain common sense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:8\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Meanwhile, Labour MP for York Outer, Luke Charters, wrote on X: &#8220;Breaking news: MPs are human and sometimes have a drink. Classic clickbait farming.&#8221; <em>(cheers).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>&#8220;MPs work long days for constituents, and yes, sometimes share a drink in the evening with colleagues. Last week I was scandalously spotted with\u2026 an alcohol-free pint or two between votes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>&#8220;But sure, let\u2019s talk about that instead of the Greens\u2019 wacky policies. Trying to distract us, maybe?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>We should not be defending these people, but be holding them to account because that is ultimately what democracy is about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>In fact there absolutely should be &#8216;one rule for us and one rule for them&#8217;, because the rule for them should be that they are held to an absolutely higher standard than the rest of us &#8211; that is how we will truly make Britain better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$?--><template id=\"B:9\"\/><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><\/div>\n<p>#Westminster #boozing #defence #highlights #touch #Parliament<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One normal person becomes an MP and suddenly there&#8217;s a culture shock Many people across the UK will say that politicians are out of touch, it&#8217;s part of the run-of-the-mill attitude we have towards MPs in this country. The majority of people find them unpopular, untrustworthy, and unrelatable &#8211; shown in the fact that not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1484,5402,200,5399,5400,4590,2153,5401,2187,18,5403,3716],"class_list":{"0":"post-5231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"tag-beer","9":"tag-boozing","10":"tag-defence","11":"tag-drinking","12":"tag-hannah-spencer","13":"tag-highlights","14":"tag-nigel-farage","15":"tag-opinion","16":"tag-parliament","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-touch","19":"tag-westminster"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}