I'm the dehumanizing master, you better start your talking 'cos I get what I go after

[venta]

So, last night a controversial bill passed its third reading. This isn't obvious: even the BBC carries only a mashed-over story covering people's comment on what would happen if the bill were passed, with a sentence buried a couple of paragraphs in mentioning that it was passed last night by a majority of 142. Is there a rule about not reporting such stories until the Queen's corgi has formally licked it or something ?

As far as I can tell, via a friendly Guardian blog, the only people who showed up to the actual debate part were those who were against and Stephen Timms, the fantastically-titled Minister for Digital Britain; everyone else just trundled in at the end to vote with the Whips.

Can anyone tell me how to deduce which way my MP voted ? Public Whip doesn't seem to be having April yet.

Comments

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

That's a lot more coherent than the reply I got (and also more popular - googling suggests most of the Tory party have used identical wording). I got:

"Thank you for contacting me about the Digital Economy Bill.
"I appreciate that this particular section of the Bill has caused a great deal of concern amongst content creators and can assure you that it is something that my colleagues have been considering carefully to get right.
"From his conversations with the Government, my colleague Jeremy Hunt MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, believes that it is listening to some of the concerns raised by photographers. The Government has said that it will be bringing forward a whole host of changes to this clause for the Report Stage of the Bill. My colleagues will examine these changes closely and make sure they address each of your worries below.
"My Party and I are keen to move amendments that address the problem of people stripping out identifying information from a digital image. We want to clamp down on this and ensure that the Bill does not encourage such activities. We also want to see in the legislation specific requirements for a search for the rights holder and a system in place if that rights holder comes forward at a later date. In no way should this Bill actually harm content creators.
"I am very hopeful that we can get this right as sorting out the current system will unlock a whole host of content that can be used for the public good. I really believe that the BBC and British Library archives for instance will be much easier to access under these proposals.
"Thanks again for letting me know of your concerns. My colleagues and I will do all we can to make sure the Government takes these into account."

which doesn't even bother mentioning the disconnection thing I was asking about.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Pah. I shan't be voting for him then.

Not that I was going to anyway, mind.