On zero sleep and only seven hours after being re-elected, Mark Reckless was back in the Commons and sitting on the opposition benches. Rushing back to take part in a Labour PR stunt/debate on the NHS in order to shore up a Ukip weakspot, Reckless wasted no time in getting sworn back in.
The Tory benches were deserted for his return, but he was given a grudging welcome back by MPs of all colours. ‘Listening to Reckless you would never think he had voted for the privatisation at the heart of the Health and Social Care Act 18 times’, mused Labour’s Bill Easterson. ‘First speech by Mark Reckless for UKIP in Commons right now, urging support for a Labour bill. Immediate proof that vote UKIP, get Miliband,’ seethed Tory Deputy Chief Whip. Though Mr S thinks it was the SNP’s Pete Wishart who hit the nail on the head: ‘He sounds like John Major on helium.’
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