European Arrest Warrant Debacle Proves a Political Shambles Is Often Good News

Commons chaos shows backbench rebels and opposition MPs are doing their jobs – and still on the ball enough to spot a fix

It’s usually good news to hear on the news or Andy Sparrow’s blog that there’s been “chaos” or a “shambles” in parliament. Unlike chaos in the accounts department at Tesco or on the try line in a rugby match, some disorder in the Commons means that everyone is concentrating and the opposition is doing what it’s paid for.

That means challenging the government of the day on the substance of its business or, as in last night’s shambles over the European arrest warrant (EAW), the manner in which it sought to win the business. Ministers appear to have used the procedural options at its disposal to avoid a direct vote on the EAW aspect of the wider criminal justice package – you can read the Hansard here – and been easily caught out for doing so.

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