I think ... that it is the best club in London. Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, Mr Tremlow
The Commons, faithful to their system, remained in a wise and masterly inactivity. James Mackintosh
Anybody who enjoys being in the House of Commons probably needs psychiatric help. Ken Livingstone
A man may speak very well in the House of Commons, and fail very completely in the House of Lords. There are two distinct styles requisite: I intend, in the course of my career, if I have time, to give a specimen of both. Benjamin Disraeli
It’s good to remember the unburied dead and the uncollected rubbish. Most of it can now be seen on the Labour benches in the House of Commons. Norman Tebbit
The honest truth is that if this government were to propose the massacre of the first-born, it would still have no difficulty in getting it through the Commons. Diane Abbott
We have a maxim in the House of Commons, and written on the walls of our houses, that old ways are the safest and surest ways. Edward Coke
I will not regret leaving what has become a totally dysfunctional institution. I will not miss the thrill of making well-researched speeches in a virtually empty room. I will not miss working long hours on irrelevant ministerial guided committees. I will not miss the posturing. Lee Morrison, retiring Canadian Alliance MP
There is no more striking illustration of the immobility of British institutions than the House of Commons. Herbert Henry Asquith
When in the House MPs divide
If they have a brain and cerebellum too,
They have to leave their brain outside,
And vote just as their leaders tell ’em to. W S Gilbert
I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Belong? That is a very sexist way to talk about these bitches. Ali G Indahouse 2002 starring Sacha Baron Cohen & Michael Gambon & Charles Dance & Kellie Bright & Martin Freeman & Rhona Mitra & Barbara New et al, director, Ali to pimp
You is on our turf. ibid. Ali with gang
All I wanna do is pull your panties down ... Oh, hello, me Julie. Sorry, I got confused. You know you is me only bitch. ibid. Ali caught in flagrante
We ain’t got enough fit women. And we got too many mingers. ibid. Ali G in Cabinet
This is the House of Commons as you’ve never seen it before. With unprecedented access we’ve been filming behind the scenes for a year. Inside the Commons ***** BBC 2015
It’s in danger of collapse. ibid.
The bewildering codes and customs of the Commons. ibid.
Built on the site of William the Conqueror’s first palace, the mother of parliaments is where the laws that affect all our lives are made. Rebuilt in Victorian times as a Gothic fantasy palace, it’s an eight-acre jumble of buildings and courtyards with a hundred staircases, over a thousand rooms, and three miles of passages. ibid.
The Commons’ top official, the clerk of the House, Sir Robert Rogers ... Robert is the legal owner of Big Ben. ibid.
The palace of Westminster often looks one great building site. ibid.
Everything must be spick and span for Her Majesty. Craftsmen are sprucing up the royal apartments in the House of Lords. Inside the Commons II: Upstairs Downstairs
The Queen will make her speech to open parliament. ibid.
The Lords’ official known as Black Rod will take the star role. ibid.
The Palace of Westminster is a maze of tunnels and towers. ibid.
Built nearly a thousand years ago, Westminster Hall was where King Charles I was sentenced to death. ibid.
A vote is under way. Five hundred division bells ringing out across the Commons. Inside the Commons III
Party loyalty dictated how the central laws of the land are made and unmade, and political careers determined. ibid.
The building’s cast-iron roof – one of the biggest in the world. ibid.
Last year has seen a fracturing of our party system, and the loosening of the grip of the whips. ibid.
A Victorian palace that is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. Inside the Commons IV
Its default setting of Punch-n-Judy politics. ibid.
But there’s certainly only one thing I could never agree with George Galloway on. He’s a teetotaller and wants to close all the bars in the House of Commons. That is just not on. Nigel Farage
Now that the House of Commons is trying to become useful, it does a great deal of harm. Oscar Wilde
There is nowhere in the world where sleep is so deep as in the libraries of the House of Commons. Henry Chips Channon, 1897-1958
Mistrust that may just have its roots in a chapter one decade ago: MPs accused of being on the take when a national newspaper blew the lid on their expenses system, in a country still reeling from a financial crisis. Expenses: The Scandal that Changed Britain, BBC 2019
How much did those events rewrite the relationship between parliamentarians and the public? How much did it redirect the whole course of British politics? ibid.
The job of redaction took place in secret. ibid.
‘From porn films to bath plugs’ … ‘chandeliers, horse manure, swimming pools, housekeepers’ … ‘It’s a classic smear this’ [Mandelson]. ibid.
The moat belonged to Douglas Hogg; the expense was for cleaning it. ibid.
Another kind of second home: a duck house. ibid.
Five Labour MPs and Two Conservative Peers who were eventually jailed. ibid.
This gathering of cunts does not represent the people who elected it. 400 Leave constituencies would be a landslide under voting protocols but the reverse is true.
They voted for a referendum
They voted for Article 50
The main parties had Leaving the EU in their manifestos
They voted out May’s deal three times.
They seem to have made No-deal illegal, thus scuppering any chance of negotiation.
They don’t want an election despite Magic Grandpa calling for one constantly.
They won’t table no confidence as they don’t want an election even though there is now no majority government.
They have used the sainted Jo Cox as some sort of symbol to tar Johnson.
The Speaker is entirely biased against Brexit.
400 or so MPs have lined up with the Establishment, the City, Academia and diverse vested interests to deny the referendum result. They don’t want a deal… they want to stay in the EU.
There were terms for parliaments in days gone by – long, short, addled etc. but this is the Traitorous Parliament. Is a cunt online 28 September 2019
I understand the damage the expenses crisis has done to Parliament, and the paramount importance of restoring trust in our politics. George Osborne
Stephen Kinnock works Monday to Friday in Geneva and then goes home to Denmark where he pays no tax. Denmark’s tax rate is in excess of 60%. So why are we paying him to be an MP when his loyalty appears to be elsewhere? Who looks after his constituents? John McDonald, tweet 7th April 2022
My sister, Jo Cox, was MP here until she was murdered … by a far-right extremist. Dispatches: MPs Under Threat, Channel 4 2022
Last October, MP Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed in his constituency. ibid.
With MPs getting more and more threats and abuse, do we still feel safe to do our jobs? And what does this mean for democracy and the people we represent? ibid.