IN MOMENTS of what can only be described as sheer boredom (or perhaps stupidity) I start flicking through the channels and somehow find my way to BBC Parliament.
For the uninitiated, this is the channel where the cameraman basically points his lens at an MP talking in the House of Commons and then goes for a kip.
Sometimes, the camera will be in the Lords, the Scottish parliament or some select committees (the seating plan of which make sme feel as if I'm intruding on someone's job interview) but the general modus operandi is the same.
However, I can guarantee that every time I turn it on a boring MP from East Devon or somewhere else in the nether regions of the country will be there in full flow either asking their Rt Hon friend to congratulate their local hospital for its 100% cleanliness rate for bed pans or arguing the point about a tedious Bill seeking to regulate the sale of washing powder and lawnmowers to the Balkan states.
So with no intention of listening to that tripe, I start flicking again but five minutes later when I get back to the channel, he's still at it! Argh!!!!!
Unfortunately, the archaic rules of televising parliament mean we cannot be treated to cut away shots to other MPs who have dozed off or writing their shopping lists, which would lift the gloom no end.
I'm not surprised the nationals don't report parliamentary debates anymore. Heaving to read it all can only be marginally more boring than having to sit through it.
What never ceases to amaze me though is how MPs speaking in the House have real difficulty in getting to the point.
Maybe I've got some kind of undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder but I think the Speaker should introduce a one minute maximum rule. Either that or when the first snore is heard, whichever is the quickest.
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