There is a fine tradition stretching way back before the current incumbent of the name started his obsessive daily whine about the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) which shows how, to true Londoners, the Weegie-lite MP for Glasgow is appropriately named.

Up in the Weegie sewer, Tom’s surname may conjure up images of humble crofters summoning up the strength to shoot the shuttle across their loom and produce another meagre yard of the thorn proof cloth beloved of the local laird. It is only an image.

Down in London where the Ipsa civil servants live, the name has more colourful connotations.

For generations, those who talk out of their backside, were said to speak through their ‘Aristotle. A bit of a mouthful, later shortened to ‘bottle and glass’, and later on to simply ……

Down south, an ‘Harris’ is nothing more than an arsehole.

In fairness, you will occasionally hear someone referred to as a ‘Harris Tweed’, taking great care to enunciate the ‘h’ – in this case they are referring to a ‘weed’, the runt of the litter, the fourth child, invariable born mentally challenged as they say in these PC days.

Now, Tom dear, remember back a few years, you and your fellow Ministers took a thorough look over a civil service department that pays out expenses. You pronounced it fit for purpose. You arranged for it to move out to economical offices in Birmingham. You had not a word of complaint about delays or difficulty communicating with those civil servants. You were all as pleased as punch with it. Yes, you too, you voted for it. You thought it was a fine and dandy way in which to ensure that the right money went to the right people at the right time.

So why don’t you campaign to have parliamentary expenses doled out by that out-of-town, fit for purpose, quasi banking service that you were all so proud of setting up?

It’s called the Public Guardianship Office…….they have bags of experience at dealing with abusive idiots trying to get money out of vulnerable people……

English Viking
July 3, 2010 at 13:03

I like to tell Mr Harris what I think of him by posting comments on his
crappy blog.

He has banned me. Boo Hoo.

Anna
Raccoon July 3, 2010 at 13:06

You’re welcome here English Viking.

Actually Tom seems to have disabled his comments for everyone at the
moment, guess he coulnd’t take the heat.

English
Viking July 3, 2010 at 14:48

Ta very much Anna. Harris has actually banned me in particular, mostly
over my insistence that he is a vacuous, lying, hypocrite coupled with my
highlighting the fact that he is not, as he claims to be, a Christian, as
he is not following Christ.

He got a bit touchy and did the typical Socialist manoeuvre when
confronted with a superior argument; accuse your opponent of ‘hate
speech’, close down the argument and refuse to debate with ‘Nazis’.

Just in case he reads this blog, this one’s for you Tom; you’re an
ass.

Declan July 3, 2010 at 10:07

If IPSA are about to start charging

SadButMadLad July
2, 2010 at 20:31

The fact that he has disabled comments on all his pages to do with IPSA is
highly significant. It shows that he doesn’t want to listen. Not a nice
feature for an MP who is supposed to listen to his electorate, warts and
all.

If he has stopped listening to all the people who are telling him that what
he is experiencing is normal reality, then he probably hasn’t listened to
anyone else who has been in contact with him. Basically you could say that Tom
Harris cares fuck all about his electorate. But that’s to be expected since he
was a part of the last government that allowed and encouraged the current
attitude of civil servants.

Read this for a behind the scenes view of the French civil service and just
see how close it comes to the British civil service – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7866140/French-civil-servant-lifts-lid-on-five-hours-a-week-culture.html

Old Slaughter July
2, 2010 at 13:31

Lovely stuff.

Yes, Tom’s bouts of hypocrisy are very funny. Opposition is not suiting him
so well. Or perhaps better than ever, depends on your perspective.

I think it went the other way round though. Arse, became bottle and glass,
then it was shortened to Aristotle, as in Aristotle, bottle.
A rare case of
double rhyming slang.