I swear it's time to find a new way of doing politics

"WHAT an effing shambles!" Those are the words my visiting friend articulated when the Government's watered-down Welfare Bill struggled to pass its Second Reading stage.

- Fred Hughes - Historian and author

Although new legislation is desperately needed to upgrade the struggling health and social security legislation, this offbeat attempt at reform failed because of its lack of collective input leading to the Dispatch Box.

What it did reveal was that a huge parliamentary majority doesn’t guarantee a free ride for its leaders, something that Councillor Ted Smith, a former leader of Stoke-of-Trent City Council, discovered in 1996 when every seat was held by Labour.

And so, Labour's bloated backbench struck back making Tuesday’s Commons debate look more like Blackpool's Winter Gardens in the conference season.

It was enough to make the Prime Minister swear, and who would blame him if he did?

MPs on all side exchanged strident insults but without individually resorting to bad language; it’s not the diplomatic way, and swearing is bound to upset some people. But why shouldn’t our elected representatives talk like us using the occasional fruity expression to release the steam valve, to enable people to see them like we see ourselves?