Souses of Parliament: Three MPs get a dressing down from Defence Secretary for drinking ‘heavily’ during official trip to meet troops in Gibraltar
- A female Labour politician and two men from the SNP were said to be involved
- The trio were reportedly ‘quite clearly drunk’ when boarding a flight to Gibraltar
- The Labour MP required a wheelchair to get from baggage claim to a minibus
- Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the conduct risked ‘undermining respect’
A trio of MPs received a dressing down from the Defence Secretary after drinking ‘heavily’ en route to an official visit to troops in Gibraltar.
A female Labour politician and two men from the SNP were accused of showing a ‘lack of respect’ for the Armed Forces by Ben Wallace.
The trio were said to be ‘quite clearly drunk’ when they boarded their flight, and continued drinking on the plane.
The Labour MP required a wheelchair to make her way from the baggage claim to a military minibus, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Mr Wallace said the trio’s conduct risked ‘undermining respect for Parliament’.
The trio of MPs received a dressing down from Defense Secretary Ben Wallace (pictured) after drinking ‘heavily’ en route to an official visit to troops in Gibraltar
The three were among 14 MPs travelling to see the military in Gibraltar as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. The flight also included Ministry of Defence staff and members of the public.
James Gray, a Tory MP and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces, told The Times: ‘These three, as I understand it, were in a British Airways lounge in Heathrow and made full use of the facilities.’
He said that by the time they got to the airport the three MPs were ‘pretty well-oiled’.
The two SNP men were reportedly ‘lairy’ and ‘rude’ when their coronavirus passes did not work at the airport gates, and it is claimed that military staff needed to intervene to calm them down.
MoD bosses received reports of the MPs’ conduct from military escorts on board the flight.
James Gray, a Tory MP and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces, told The Times: ‘These three, as I understand it, were in a British Airways lounge in Heathrow and made full use of the facilities’
Mr Wallace will now write to the leaders of Labour and the SNP to complain. The Defence Secretary said: ‘This type of behaviour shows a lack of respect for the enduring work of our Armed Forces.
‘The Armed Forces scheme is an opportunity for both Parliamentarians and the military to understand each other.
This behaviour puts military personnel in a difficult position and risks undermining respect for Parliament.’
The MPs were carpeted after flying to Gibraltar (pictured)
A source told The Daily Telegraph that the MPs were ‘quite clearly drunk when they were checking in and going through the process of boarding’, then ‘drank heavily on the plane’.
They claimed the Labour MP became ‘incapacitated through drink on the flight across to Gibraltar to the point where she had to be moved to the transport by wheelchair’. She was then taken to a hotel ‘for her own safety’, it was claimed.
The Times reported that the Labour MP was returning to the UK two days early after speaking to party whips.
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