After rolling out a set of amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Chris Hinchliff, the Labour MP for North East Hertfordshire, found himself in a bit of hot water with the government. He, alongside three of his colleagues, lost the whip in July for what one government insider described as “persistent knobheadery”.
Before he was suspended, Hinchliff, who had worked hard to improve the bill’s environmental protections and affordable housebuilding provision, requested a meeting with the Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook. His request was denied.
But Hinchliff got his own back. On 15 September, at the end of a particularly long day in the Commons, he brought an adjournment debate on council housebuilding (a key element of his amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill). In his capacity as a minister, Pennycook was forced to attend. The only catch: delays to the Commons order paper meant that the time allotted to Hinchliff’s debate fell after 11pm. After denying his colleague a hearing, Pennycook was forced to listen to his gripes until almost midnight. Pennycook probably regretted saying no to that meeting.
[Further reading: Powell vs Phillipson is an old battle reborn]
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