Dennis Skinner

Dennis Skinner
Born	Dennis Edward Skinner 11 February 1932 Clay Cross, Derbyshire
Alma mater	Ruskin College
Chairman of the Labour Party In office 13 June 1988 - 27 October 1989  Member of Parliament for Bolsover In office 18 June 1970 - Present

Dennis Skinner is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover from 1970 to 2019. Known for his left-wing views and acerbic wit, he belonged to the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

He was Chairman of the Labour Party from 1988–1989, and served as a member of its National Executive Committee until stepping down in July 2016.

Dodgy Dave

David Cameron made a statement about the Panama Papers tax revelations in the House of Commons on Monday 11 April 2016, but did not convince one veteran MP.

Labour’s Dennis Skinner responded to the Prime Minister’s comments by referring to him as Dodgy Dave:

"Does the Prime Minister recall that at the time after he became Prime Minister under the coalition, at the time that he was dividing the nation between strivers and scroungers, I asked him a very important question about the windfall he received when he wrote off the mortgage on the premises in Notting Hill?

"And I said to him he didn't write off the mortgage of the one the taxpayers were helping to pay for at Oxford. I didn't receive a proper answer then. Maybe Dodgy Dave will answer it now. And by the way..."

Speaker John Bercow asked the Bolsover MP to “think of another” word to describe Cameron. The 84-year-old replied, pointing at the Prime Minister:

"This man has done more to divide this nation than anybody else. He’s looked after his own pocket. I still refer to him as Dodgy Dave. Do what you like."

Short expulsion

After refusing to withdraw this remark, Skinner was told to leave the chamber for the remainder of the day.

Calling for Blair's head

Writing in The Herald about why the attempted coup on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was carried out around a week before the Chilcot report was due, Alex Salmond wrote:

I had a conversation on exactly this point with veteran Labour firebrand Dennis Skinner. He answered in one word ‘Iraq’. The Skinner line is that the coup was timed to avoid Corbyn calling for Blair’s head next Wednesday from the despatch box.

Indeed many would say that when Corbyn stated that he would be prepared to see a former Labour Prime Minister tried for war crimes then he sealed his fate as leader of the Labour party.

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