Whitsun Adjournment

We need to be a little careful about blaming the Whips. On the Government side, they are the paid servants of the party leadership. The Whips of the Opposition parties are also very close to their party leaderships. They are surrogates for the decisions of the Government and the alternative Governments, and special views are not conjured up in the respective Whips' offices. The Government Whips' Office is the largest department of state, and we should not disown what goes on by saying, "This is just the Whips." We should be clear that they express the Government's view, and that needs to be smoked out as such.