The newly elected Green MP, Hannah Spencer, should be lauded for her criticism of just one abuse in the mass of abuses we call our constitutional system—namely, the prevalence of cheap drink at Westminster. So soon as she stood up to ask a question of the Prime Minister about this, some cretin cried: “Anyone want a pint?” When Spencer mentioned that the alcohol of our legislators is subsidised, she was met by a groan of disapproval. How dare she! The temerity of this newly elected MP, too fresh and too connected to the real world—not yet so bathed in parliamentary corruption as to believe that Honourable Members are superior to the lowly herd, and thus deserving of special treatment. The jeering and heckling continued through Spencer’s remarks, wherein she observed that it is perhaps a bad thing for our representatives to vote, while drunk, on questions touching the public’s most vital interests.

The depravity implied by the House’s reaction to Spencer’s gentle reprimand can scarcely be better understood than by watching the video. It is clear that no small proportion of Honourable Members believe they have the same right to drink and merriment as the gods of Olympus. Why should morals, the sense of public duty, old-fashioned virtue, interfere with their pleasure? They do not go to the Honourable House to serve us. They go to gratify their vanity, to plunder what they can, and to cruelly mock anyone who thinks of limiting their enjoyments in order to better promote the interests of the people.

I venture to say that no harm would be done by closing down every dedicated bar in Parliament, and ending all alcohol subsidies—indeed much good might result. Only the British ruling class could design a legislative assembly where, not only are the legislators given access to plentiful alcohol, but are positively encouraged to drink by its low price. In this example alone, the misrule that the British people are expected to endure is summarised.