Thread: Eric Joyce MP - Why?

Eric Joyce Called Police Officers 'C****' During Commons Bar Brawl

PA/The Huffington Post | By | Posted: 9/03/2012




A "hammered" Eric Joyce attacked four politicians in a bar brawl before telling police "You can't touch me, I'm an MP".
He also called officers "c****" after going berserk and headbutting Tory MP Stuart Andrew and councillor Ben Maney, prosecutor Zoe Martin told Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Martin said Joyce launched into a frenzied attack after shouting the Strangers bar "was full of f****** Tories".
Having attacked two MPs and two councillors he then wrote in a police officer's notebook: "We are a Tory nation, that cannot be forever... good cops unite."
Joyce was given a 12-month community order banning him from entering pubs and licensed premises for three months.
He was also fined £3,000 by the magistrate and ordered to pay £350 to each of his victims.
Jeremy Dein QC, Joyce's defence barrister, said the politician, 51, accepted the fact that he was drinking was not an excuse "for the dreadful scenario that unfolded".
Joyce, while sobering up in the cells, told police of one of his victims: "I think he was a silly fat Tory MP. He was pushing like a girl and giving me a bearhug."
A barman had told officers there was a "happy and friendly" atmosphere before Joyce "flipped" on February 22.
Prosecutor Martin said: "Mr Joyce started to sing very loudly... that was noticed by several people in the bar. Nobody seemed bothered by it."
Joyce then approached Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke, saying: "Don't look at any of my guests like that again."
MP Andrew Percy walked past and asked Joyce to move. Joyce replied: "No, you f****** can't", Martin said.
Witnesses said Joyce then shouted: "There are too many Tories in this bar" and later: "The bar was full of f****** Tories."
Andrews protested, saying: "You can't behave in that way" before Joyce launched into a string of attacks.
Joyce was suspended from the Labour Party following the incident in February but remains an MP. He is expected to be expelled permanently from Labour following his conviction.
If he had been sentenced to over 12 months in prison he would have had to resign his seat.
But speaking outside the court on Friday Joyce said he intended to stay in parliament until the 2015 general election.
"Clearly it's a matter of considerable personal shame," he said of the incident.
"I've been duly punished today. I've been lucky to avoid prison. I'm very ashamed, of course."
He said he wanted to apologise to a "long list" of people he had let down, including his constituents and fellow MPs.
But he said he did not intend to stand down as an MP before the next election.
"It would be easy but I was elected in 2000 and I will continue serving," he said.
Asked if he thought he had a problem with alcohol, he told reporters: "I think drink was an aggravating factor, that's something I have to deal with personally. Not everyone who drinks gets involved in fights."
In a statement issued on friday afternoon Andrew said he did not "harbour any grudge or ill will" towards Joyce as a result of the attack and hoped "any personal challenges he faces can be overcome".

source: Eric Joyce Called Police Officers 'C****' During Commons Bar Brawl


Why?

From what I can gather, it seems that Mr Joyce has been going slowly off the rails over the last two years.

Parliamentary record

Joyce most often puts his questions in the House of Commons chamber to the Scotland Office, Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Northern Ireland Office, and Ministry of Defence.[17] While a Parliamentary Private Secretary Joyce was expected to vote with the Government,[18] but even when not, he has not broken the Labour whip in Parliament.[19] Joyce is not currently a member of any Parliamentary Select Committees but has been a member of several public bill committees.[17]
Joyce, along with fellow MPs Tom Harris and Jo Swinson, regularly uses the social networking tool Twitter during Parliamentary business including the Prime Minister's Questions to encourage constituents to feel involved with parliamentary proceedings. Despite such activities being permitted under parliamentary rules, the MPs in question have received criticism from some sections of the media for what is perceived to be a lack of participation in the parliamentary proceedings while they are using the social networking tools.[20] Joyce is an advocate of new media in politics. He regularly blogs on current issues concerning House of Commons and the Government in WordPress.[21] He regularly communicates with the public on Twitter and his blog.[21]
[edit] Expenses claims

Joyce was the top-claiming Member of the House of Commons for the 2005–06 Parliamentary Session, claiming £174,811 in expenses, of which 62% was for staff and office costs.[22] After the 2005–06 Parliamentary Session, he made a public pledge to cut his expenses. Subsequently, during the 2006–07 Parliamentary Session, he moved down to 11th on the list of MPs' expenses and allowances.[23] However, he once again rose to the top of the expenses list for the 2007–08 Parliamentary Session with £187,334.[24]
Joyce was the first MP to claim more than £1 million cumulatively in expenses.[25] In October 2007 Joyce claimed £180 for three oil paintings. When asked why he had used taxpayers' funds in such a way he replied "because they look nice."[26] In May 2009, tabloids reported Joyce was seeking advice from HM Revenue and Customs regarding £40,000 in unpaid capital gains tax on the sale of his London home, which he had designated as his second home under the Second Homes Allowance scheme. The house had been sold for a £133,000 profit.[27] When asked what he would do were he asked to repay the money, Joyce stated he would "suck it and see."[28][29]
[edit] Drink driving

On 18 November 2010 Joyce was arrested for failing to provide a breath test following a motoring incident in Falkirk. He pleaded guilty in court the following day and was fined £400 and banned from driving for a year. Joyce resigned from his position as Shadow Northern Ireland Minister and apologised for his behaviour.[30]
[edit] Assault in a Westminster bar

Joyce was arrested at 22:50 on 22 February 2012 in Parliament by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of committing assault. He was described as having gone 'berserk', hitting 'at least three MPs, including a Labour whip'.[31] He is alleged to have headbutted and punched the Conservative MP Stuart Andrew,[32] after reportedly hitting Labour Assistant Whip Phil Wilson while Wilson was attempting to restrain him.[33] The disturbance is reported to have occurred at the Strangers' Bar (reserved for MPs and their guests).[34] He has been suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation.[35]
On 23 February he was charged with three counts of common assault and released on bail.[36] A fourth charge was added on 9 March, and he pleaded guilty to all four charges.[37] Fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,400 in compensation to his victims, he avoided a custodial sentence, and stated that he intends to complete his current term as an MP.[37]
[edit] Alleged relationship

On 1 March 2012 Joyce was alleged to have had a relationship with a teenage girl whom he had befriended while she was a seventeen year old pupil at a school in his constituency. He was said to have met the teenager, now 19, after she helped during his 2010 general election campaign that saw him returned to Westminster. She appeared on a campaign leaflet beside the MP and was described as a student. At the time, she was still a pupil at Graeme High in Falkirk. The teenager also worked in Mr Joyce’s constituency office.
The Scottish Labour leader, Johann Lamont, was reported to have said: "This is a man who has abused his position of power and authority. I’m disgusted, regardless of any other issues. I think this makes Eric Joyce unfit to stand for the Labour Party."[38][39][40]
The Daily Record reported that in an interview Joyce admitted a relationship but denied it was sexual, and told the paper he would step down at the next general election. The MP, a father of two, had separated from his second wife before the May 2010 election.[41][42]

source: Eric Joyce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is Eric Joyce a true representative of the people, a revolutionary politician?

Did you do it?
Yes sir, I did, I apologise, but admit the actions and await my punishment...

Not blaiming his missus, pressures of woek, parliamentary privilege, just owning up to a violent act..

An act caused by a bunch of limp wristed tories who had their feet on stools while Labour MP's were standing, they then went on to wind him up when he asked for the seats, he lost it, they went down..

• 4 hours ago
• Report Abuse

Additional Details

Tristan, his words at the time were "you do not need to lay a hand on me, I am an MP, he went quietly, the cell was not "Vandalised" at all, a door was damaged in the strangers bar as people got out and a window was broken but no one is sure how it happened, he has accepted responsibility though..
3 hours ago
I was told his words by one of his fellow MP's in the strangers bar at the time, the morning after the incident as it happens, before the Police cooked up their story...

source: Is Eric Joyce a true representative of the people, a revolutionary politician? - Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers


Basically, it sounds like he's been having a bad time for the last two years.
Perhaps he's a bit a of a selfish tw@t, and it's all self-inflicted; or perhaps he's a working class hero, and those around him not so wonderful.

Either way he was apparently on edge, drinking heavily, and provoked by a bunch of slimy toffs.

^ Just sounds like a typical aggressive sweaty sock who can't hold his drink.

wheels fell off his wagon.

looks like he has learnt a lesson
and will find a way back in.

nothing wrong in giving a conservative a Glasgow kiss ???

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

He was also fined £3,000 by the magistrate and ordered to pay £350 to each of his victims.

He of course will be paying those fines with taxpayers money just like he has drunk himself regularly into a stupor at citizens expense

Cue

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Well now is as good a time as any during these times of austerity to close all the bars in that poxy place altogether , I would have thought apart from anything else like the UK taxpayers subsidising these bastards to the tune of £5.8 Million last year its fundamentally wrong any of these arseholes should be making decisions on our futures full of piss

The discount bars are probably the only way to ensure that these parasites actually attend the commons.

^ Yeah that and the expenses scandals ,,,,,,oh I have to now go and wash my cynical mouth out

Anyone who served during the Labour regime should by tried for gross negligence and locked up.

Didn't do Prescot any harm!

^ I remember our John doing some very useful research for us whilst in office scuba diving in the Seychelles to examine the damaged coral caused by global warming created in part but the first class ticket aboard the jumbo jet we all paid for him to fanny around in.

give it another year and we'll see clearly who the real thugs are.

these fokin bankers are still taking millions of pounds in bonus payments
while people struggling to make a business, go without the financial help
they desperately need.