Tony Banks: man of the people?
Former sports minister and leading anti-hunting politician Tony Banks died last weekend aged 62. Paying tribute to Banks, prime minister Tony Blair called him 'a true man of the people'. Rather than add our own tribute to the high-profile Chelsea fan, here's the text of an early day motion put down by Banks in May 2004 on the subject of using pigeons in warfare which suggests that he may not have been all that keen on 'people'.
'That this House is appalled, but barely surprised, at the revelations in MI5 files regarding the bizarre and inhumane proposals to use pigeons as flying bombs; recognises the important and live-saving role of carrier pigeons in two world wars and wonders at the lack of gratitude towards these gentle creatures; and believes that humans represent the most obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal species ever to inhabit the planet and looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the earth and wipes them out thus giving nature the opportunity to start again.'
Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Wikipedia
Tributes paid to ex-MP Tony Banks, BBC News, 9 January 2006