No-one talks bollocks in Hansard (oh really?)
HOUSE of Commons Speaker Michael Martin has ordered the removal from Hansard of the expression "absolute bollocks".
The phrase is said to have been uttered by Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth while listening to a Tory MP criticising the "life-threatening" shortages of kit for our fighting troops. Mr Ainsworth denied using the phrase, and the Speaker said that checks had been applied and that it was not possible to ascertain who said what.
Therefore, in place of those fruity words, the bland word "interruption" now appears in Hansard.
This is not the first time a Speaker has controversially excised the record of everything that is said in Parliament.
Robert Woof, the former Labour MP for Blaydon used the word "hospitalisation" during a debate. The then editor of Hansard told him it was not a recognised word and that he could not use it in print, though it was later used in inverted commas.
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Sunday 19 February 2012
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