Survey into bad behaviour

Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley is conducting a survey of his constituents to see how they are affected by bad behaviour.

He said:

By conducting this srvey I hope to be able to identify areas which are affected by anti-social behaviour and together with the new Anti-Social Behaviour prosecutor begin to tackle this problem. This survey will take into account the specific needs of my constituents with respect to this problem.

Iraq

Eric's position on Iraq appears a little ambiguous. Of the 4 Iraq-related divisions debated by the House in 2003, Eric voted against the government on two (96 and 117), with the government on one (118) and failed to vote in the other (97)

Yet back in 2002, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Eric expressed concerns over British involvement in possible action in Iraq.

Fast-forward to 2003 and we see Eric jumping to the defence of Alastair Campbell over the allegations of sexing up the now infamous dossier. However, his statement attracted criticism from fellow committee member John Maples. In light of subsequent revelations concerning the compiling of the dossier, Eric's belief at the time that the dossier was compiled by intelligence chiefs appears naive. That Eric feels that he and the public had been misled is apparent from his call on the 16th July 2004 for a further inquiry:

Eric Illsley, Labour MP for Barnsley Central, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, called yesterday for an inquiry into why Parliament and the public were not told that the intelligence had been discredited.

Had it been made known to the Hutton inquiry it could have "changed the atmosphere" of the hearing. Lord Hutton would have had to comment on the quality of the intelligence which went into the dossier.

Mr Illsley said the Intelligence and Security Committee was entitled to ask why it was not made aware that the intelligence had been withdrawn or why no public announcement was made qualifying the dossier on WMD.

"Anyone reading the dossier today would still think it was a relevant document and all the information in it was secure intelligence gathered at the time," Mr Illsey told BBC Radio 4's World at One.

Welcome

This blog is being maintained on behalf of Eric Illsley, Labour MP for Barnsley Central. Eric has a website maintained by those very nice people over at ePolitix.com, which not only contains his biography, but also details of various Bills and EDMs he has voted on, along with press releases and speeches. Eric also has a personal website http://www.ericillsley.co.uk which could show promise were it not for the fact that the latest press release published on the site dates back to 11th June 2003.

It is apparent from the various press releases that Eric has a passionate belief in the future of Barnsley, and it would be nice if he were to use blogging as a means to convey his vision to his constituents.