Digital Economy Bill - let down by our MP's again

I've been a bit lazy on the blogging front for a while now. Not much time has forced most of my blogging into Twitter and into very short hand. I am incensed enough today though to spend time putting some more words down. It's about the Digital Economy bill - an ill thought out rush job to push through a whole raft of changes that at the very least eats into our personal freedoms and at worst open some very private information up to unaccountable bodies and leaves our local businesses who offer free WiFi at risk of prosecution.

Our local MP Richard Benyon did attend the first reading on the bill, but failed to turn up to the second. No great surprise though for a Tory boy who just follows the party line all the time(1) ... and I thought he was there to represent us!?

Benyon votes against equal rights
Then again Richard Benyon voted against equal Gay rights (3) - something that clearly shows up the old and well know out-of-date Tory ideals in the recent Chris Grayling statement.

Benyon wants to keep the gentleman's club
He also didn't want the hereditary peers removed from the House of Lords (4). Clearly showing his 'keep the Tory Toffs in power' cards - something his Lord Ashcroft would I'm sure approve of.

Benyon is the bringer of war and conflict
His only work in the house appears to be either pre-prepared questions for his Shadow Minister, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs role; or to keep exporting weapons through his beloved DESO.

Clearly he likes to provision munitions for other peoples wars. The Green Party and others have consistently called for the dissolution of DESO as it is unclear the impact of arms sales on human rights or conflict. British weapons have for example been used by Israel to attack the largely unarmed Palestinian people (2).


Can you seriously vote for Richard Benyon?


Notes
1. Richard Benyon voted against his party only 10 times. Source http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?id=uk.org.publicwhip/member/1727&showall=yes#divisions
2. http://realisticbird.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/british-mps-slam-weapons-exports-to-%E2%80%9Cisrael%E2%80%9D/ is typical amongst many other references.
3. http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1727&dmp=826
4. http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1727&dmp=1079