Keep your friends close...
IS it okay for MPs to be friends with politicians from other parties?
That’s the question raised by Labour MP Laura Pidcock, who said she could never befriend a Tory.
The North West Durham MP, elected for the first time in June’s election, said in an interview: “The idea that they’re not the enemy is simply delusional.”
But Northumberland MP Guy Opperman told the Chronicle he took a very different approach.
The Conservative MP said: “I am close mates and drink beer with several Labour MPs”.
And Mr Opperman, MP for Hexham, said there were a number of examples of MPs from different parties working together to benefit their constituents.
They included the successful campaign to convince the government to provide relief on VAT for air ambulance services such as the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
Mr Opperman pointed out that he worked with North Durham Labour MP Kevan Jones to set up a new community bank in Northumberland and Durham, offering banking services including loans to people who might otherwise be unable to access them.
And he worked with David Miliband, who at the time was Labour MP for South Shields, to contribute to a review of the North East economy chaired by Labour peer Lord Adonis.
Mr Opperman said he was supported by Labour MPs when he had emergency surgery for a brain tumour in 2011.
He said: “When I was ill with a brain tumour several Labour MPs came to see me or sent best wishes and one even sent get well flowers.”
Ms Pidcock’s comments, in an interview with website Skwawkbox, have sparked a varied reaction.
She told the site that some Conservative MPs had tried to convince her they had good intentions, but said: “Whatever type they are, I have absolutely no intention of being friends with any of them. I have friends I choose to spend time with. I go to Parliament to be a mouthpiece for my constituents and class – I’m not interested in chatting on.
“I feel disgusted at the way they’re running this country. It’s visceral – I’m not interested in being cosy.”
She added: “The idea that they’re not the enemy is simply delusional when you see the effect they have on people – a nation where lots of people live in a constant state of fear whether they even have enough to eat.”
Ms Pidcock later clarified her comments to make it clear she “will work with a Tory if it is going to benefit the people in my constituency”, but could not be friends with one.
Former Labour MP Tom Harris, writing in the Daily Telegraph, accused Ms Pidcock of “macho posturing”.