It's a video, not an opinion piece. By all means criticise the Mirror for not being a bastion of high-quality journalism, but don't make ridiculous false equivalencies.

They were probably drunk.

Go to the link before commenting. Mendax. It is full of opinion and biased interpretation of a video.

What part are you disputing? Are you disputing that the response to the testimony was mockery and laughter? Are you disputing that the responsible ministers left long before the end of the debate? I don't see how you can reasonably defend this.

The video shows the departure of IDS. There is plenty of corroborating testimony. The writing style around it is crude and clumsy, but I don't get the complaints about its conclusions.

If you have some pathological aversion to the Mirror, here's a link to the Indy about the same event: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/iain-duncan-smith-leaves-commons-debate-on-food-banks-early-9013917.html

Where is the actual video though, apart from 9 seconds if Smith running to the restroom?

Doesn't matter I'm sure Octavious will claim some weird conspiracy about the Independent is run by Russian leftists.

Anything to duck the issue. Well, the Tories do seem to be experts at ducking accountability.

Did IDS leave? Yes. Did the Tories mock or jeer at Labour? Almost certainly. Was IDS being cowardly? No. Where the Tories laughing at hungry families? No

"Where the Tories laughing at hungry families? No"

That's an out and out lie. Fiona McTaggart gave a comment about families fighting over cheap food and the Tories laughed.

"Was IDS being cowardly? No."

Really, that's why McVey had to give the speech on the food banks?

Oh well at least we can all laugh next time Octavious tries to tell people his brand of conservatism is more 'moderate' than the teabaggers.

They may have laughed because they thought it was bullshit. Anyway, where can we actually watch this and make up our own minds? 9 seconds of some senile drunk leaving a room is all that's being provided?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSQgw9K6FT8

You're a big boy you could have found this yourself.

Around the 6:20 mark.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131218/debtext/131218-0003.htm


You can clearly hear laughter and someone asking "what are you laughing at"?

You know... that sounds more like a "give me a fucking break" laugh than an "isn't it funny that people are poor" laugh. They think she's exaggerating or repeating someone else's exaggeration. Also when people laugh in unison it's generally at something present (the speaker) rather than the object of the speech (the poor.)

* Unless the speech is an actual joke.

Whatever you say.

By a "give me a fucking break" laugh I assume you mean something along the lines of

"Give me a fucking break, we have to hear about poor people? Who cares about them, am I right?"

How is it possible to attribute the laughter toward the poor rather than toward the speaker?

Because that's what the speech is about? It seems a pretty obvious answer, I don't know what deeper meaning you were looking for here.

No, "give me a fucking break" meaning "someone TEXTED you about a FIGHT in TESCOS over PRODUCE and you believe it? What if someone EMAILS YOU about a PONY loose in the British MUSEUM?"

Moreover the people fighting might just have been idiots.

Moreover you just might be a hack that will defend anything the Tories do.

It's a verified story. I don't quite see why the method by which she was alerted to it is relevant.

I'm not a hack that will defend anything Tories do. But even if you think I am, do you really believe that some story arriving by text about a fight in Tescos, is more likely to be a result of economic policy or several belligerent numbskulls being at Tescos at the same time? I'm not defending the Tories policies mostly because I don't know them, but I have been to Tescos, and they'll let anybody in.

Verified where?

Ah this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2526191/Fight-breaks-cut-price-fruit-veg-Tesco-forced-lay-extra-security-staff-deal-bargain-hunters.html

I'm tired of these lazy rightwingers not bothering to look a single thing up.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2526191/Fight-breaks-cut-price-fruit-veg-Tesco-forced-lay-extra-security-staff-deal-bargain-hunters.html

THis internet machine? You can do searches on it. C'mon bootstraps crowd, you can do it yourself.

There's also a report in one of the local papers.

So the story is verified so what's the spin now? The hungry people are stupid, is that the line you're taking?

Shit here in America people electrocute each other over holiday gift shopping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdSOylJQkIo

It's ridiculous but probably predictable when you offer greatly reduced prices on limited stock of anything.

I still reckon they were deriding the speaker for bringing it up, it's Tescos problem.

Keep the spin coming. Now you're equating people who turn to food banks with coupon clippers on Black Friday. Shameless.

They were not at a food bank, they were at the supermarket. For all anyone knows the people fighting were millionaires.

Anyway, I might be wrong, considering how drunk many MPs typically are, they might very well have been laughing at the poor.

^ Which would be wrong, I might add. Also many American legislators are loaded all the time (particularly Boehner) before I get piled on for deriding MPs.

Eh, it's still a bullshit manufactured scandal but it's impossible to get that across without people thinking I'm defending these idiots. It's too good to be true for the people who want to believe it, and impossible to refute or prove. Anyway there's always gonna be bullshit manufactured scandals so there's no point in me railing much more about it.

Iain Duncan Smith having to actually rush out to take a whiz, that is funny though. Maybe they should have fewer drinking establishments actually in Parliament itself.