Libson treaty: the first text-message Commons vote

An end of an era: Labour MPs have been queueing up to hand in their pagers, having been told that Labour Central will be issuing orders by text in future on a Blackberry or mobile phone. Another Blairite symbol dropped, but the real target is slapdash Labour MPs who have been missing votes by losing or ignoring their pagers. With the five-week marathon debate on the Lisbon treaty under way, the whips will tolerate no excuses, so have installed a shiny new system from Vodafone.

(Nothing to worry about tonight, though, because apparently the Speaker has not allowed a vote on a wrecking amendment by the rebel Labour MP Ian Davidson and friends*.)

A technical history below the fold, along with *a list of friends

According to cuttings, O2, which was supplying Labour and the Tories with the vibrating pagers, shut its service at the end of 2004. At this point, Labour switched to Vodafone pagers, which are also used by the Liberal Democrats, and the Tories moved to Blackberrys.

Labour MPs who signed the Lisbon treaty wrecking amendment: Ian Davidson, Gisela Stuart, Graham Stringer, Kelvin Hopkins, Michael Clapham, John McDonnell, Ian Gibson, David Taylor, Mark Fisher, Frank Field, Austin Mitchell, Alan Simpson, Lindsay Hoyle, David Drew, Lynne Jones, Kate Hoey, Jeremy Corbyn, Ann Cryer.

Comments

[CT Barbarian]

That does it! I could never be a Tory MP - there is no way I'm dropping my iPhone for a Blackberry!