Rebels claim 160 MPs will defy party

Guardian Unlimited ^ | 3/17/03

[Dog Gone]

What the heck are frontbench and backbench party members?

[whadizit]

Waaaaa...I'm going to take my toys and go home. Crybabies!

[wadecollins]

Blair needs to always remember that in politics you had better be right.

[wadecollins]

Blair needs to always remember that in politics you had better be right.

[dinok]

I just hope the Torries forget politics and vote with Blair. This is too serius for them to take advantage and watch Blair's government fall.

[wretchard]

This is a lose-lose situation for the British Left. Even if their plans eventuate, they will weaken Tony Blair without toppling him and diminish the chances that Labor can continue govern. If the campaign in Iraq goes well, it will empower centrist Labor party members to take the knife to the extreme left of their party. The Conservatives can just stand and watch, in any case.

Labor could successfully triangulate so long as issues were kept general and nebulous. When the litmus test of British national interest came along, the mask dissolved. Cooperation with America has the same effect on the left as garlic does to vampires. It reduces them to raging pain and irrationality. Always a joy to watch.

[afuturegovernor]

Backbenchers are members of parliament that have no leadership position. They are the rank and file members. The frontbench (so called because they seat in the front of the chamber nearer the prime minister) have some sort of leadership position. Frontbenchers usually have more experience and have more power.

[Semper911]

in politics you had better be right.
in politics you had better be right.

And if ain't right, say it twice.

[jwalsh07]

Duncan-Smith has already committed to that.

[Beck_isright]

The backbench members have relatives in San Francisco.

[Cicero]

The headline from the left-wing Guardian is misleading. Almost the entire article suggests that Blair will win the vote.

[afuturegovernor]

I am sure the Tories will support Blair and the war:

"Britain's security is at stake. That's why I've backed those who are ready to take on that tyrant Saddam Hussein." Duncan Smith, Conservative Party Leader

[Dog Gone]

Thanks.

[Semper911]

What the heck are frontbench and backbench party members?

I hear you. What I don't know about the British parliment system could fill a book.

Ivan, can you help us here? Can Tony lose his job over this? And if so, how much time would he have?

Will it help when the women and children in Baghdad are dancing in the streets and hugging American and British soldiers?

[ez]

What the heck are frontbench and backbench party members?

Watch the Prime Ministers Questions on CSpan. The front benchers sit in front of a rail and generally "answer" questions. The backbenchers literally sit on benches in the back, behind the rail, and seem to fire question at those inside the rail, the frontbenchers.

It seems to be the leadership and the rank and file.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

What the heck are frontbench and backbench party members?

Perhaps from this context we can figure out something:

Backbench committees

Both the Labour and Conservative parties in Parliament have a number of backbench committees.

These committees meet regularly to discuss particular areas of policy and are considered to play an important role in keeping party leaderships informed of backbench opinion.

Both Labour and the Conservatives also have a number of regional backbench committees at which MPs from a particular area get together to discuss issues relevant to their region.

Historically, a famous and powerful backbench committee has been the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee, of which all Conservative backbenchers are members.

Labour's backbench committees are known as departmental groups and regional groups.

____________________________________________________

I am guessing the backbenchers are the Members of Parliament who do not have any leadership positions!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well I was using Google and it takes awhile!

[pierrem15]

will empower centrist Labor party members to take the knife to the extreme left of their party.

I think that's why PM Blair looked so cheery during Prime Minister's Minutes last week. He was thinking, "Just a few more weeks you worthless Stalinist sods and I'll be rid of you once and for all." Of course, they'll all secure sinecures at the heart of darkness in the EU bureaucracy in Brussels or become, gasp, MEP's!!

[Antoninus]

I just hope the Torries forget politics and vote with Blair. This is too serius for them to take advantage and watch Blair's government fall.

Iain Duncan Smith has already indicated as much. He's not going to play politics with this.