Iain Duncan Smith - Point of Order - Money to Northern Ireland.

After the 42 day vote was complete Iain Duncan Smith raised a Point of Order. He asked the Speaker if the Alistair Darling would make a statement tomorrow about any emergency amendments made to the budget to give money to Northern Ireland. I'm not sure but I think IDS said the figure was £1.2bn. Wow. UPDATE: The figure being mentioned is £200m.

Gordon Brown may have won today's vote, but I think he has done himself a whole lot of damage to secure that victory. If it is proved that he has given a massive bribe to the DUP, he will never recover.

Watch this space.

The list of rebels from the Guardian:

Diane Abbott (Hackney North & Stoke Newington)
Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield)
Katy Clark (Ayrshire North & Arran)
Harry Cohen (Leyton & Wanstead)
Frank Cook (Stockton North)
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North)
Jim Cousins (Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Andrew Dismore (Hendon)
Frank Dobson (Holborn & St Pancras)
David Drew (Stroud)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Mark Fisher (Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Paul Flynn (Newport West)
Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow)
Ian Gibson (Norwich North)
Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Sparkbrook & Small Heath)
John Grogan (Selby)
Dai Havard (Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney)
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall)
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North)
Glenda Jackson (Hampstead & Highgate)
Lynne Jones (Birmingham Selly Oak)
Peter Kilfoyle (Liverpool Walton)
John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington)
Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock)
Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway)
Michael Meacher (Oldham West & Royton)
Julie Morgan (Cardiff North)
Chris Mullin (Sunderland South)
Doug Naysmith (Bristol North West)
Gordon Prentice (Pendle)
Linda Riordan (Halifax)
Alan Simpson (Nottingham South)
Emily Thornberry (Islington South & Finsbury)
David Winnick (Walsall North)
Mike Wood (Batley & Spen)

Iain Duncan Smith - £20 Married Couples Allowance.

After criticising Iain Duncan Smith's daft proposal of adding 7p to a pint of beer yesterday, today I would like to congratulate him on getting one of his policy proposals right. David Cameron's wish to "Mend Society" is something not to be sniffed at and IDS's proposal of giving married couples a £20 tax break can only help our declining society. It is a fact that a larger proportion of our juvenile delinquents, under achievers, drug users and criminals come from single parent homes. The statistics are not a hard and fast, many people from single parent families turn out alright, but they are disadvantaged when compared to those from two parent families.

Iain has also proposed an increase in benefits of £32 for married couples to bring them into line with single parents. It is about time, A single parent with 2 children working 16 hours a week receives £487 per week thanks to tax credit payments. Unbelievably a two-parent family, with one of them working, also with 2 children is required to work 116 hours to get the same income. This situation is ridiculous and no matter what Labour may say, it can only have a negative effect on the need to have stable family units.

Well done Iain, let's hope David Cameron takes this policy on board and that the Conservatives get into power. Strong family units with one of the parents able to work without being disadvantaged, should give the next generation of kids a better future than the one they face at present. I would hope that this proposal also extends to same sex marriages now that civil partnerships are becoming more popular.

We cannot continue to throw money at single parents, it has been tried, and it does not work.

7p on a pint? IDS, you are having a laugh.

I'm all for David Cameron wanting to "Mend Society", God knows it needs it. I cannot however agree with Iain Duncan Smith's brainwave of adding 7p to a pint of beer. If he thinks that will reduce the number of people binge drinking then he is not in touch with reality. I could still go out and have a skin full i.e. 10 pints and it will only cost me an extra 70p - wow. If the price of beer goes up 7p then I will only be able to buy 30 pints for the same money that I could have previously bought 31 pints, not exactly a deterrent is it? Iain's suggestion is not worth the paper it is written on, and if that is the best he can do, then he is wasting conservative party time and money. Binge drinking is a British phenomenon and a choice made by adults, instead of trying to force everyone to stop, we should be cracking down on the few idiots that spoil it all by behaving antisocially.

As for reclassifying Cannabis back from class C to class B, it's all a bit late and will only lead to further confusion - even the police don't understand the actions to be taken in most cases. What I would suggest is make the Cannabis legal (I'm anti-drugs but can't think of a better solution) and hammer anyone caught supplying the stuff to under 18's, or under 16's depending on how Liberal you want to be. If Cannabis is legalised it will be regulated and therefore safer for adults to use. I know from experience that kids and drugs do not mix.