Wednesday 12 May 2010

Paul Uppal - where are you?

Attention to Google searchers: I post about Uppal a couple of times a week. It's worth 
going to plashingvole.blogspot.com to catch up on the latest developments.







I e-mailed my new MP, very politely, a week ago, to ask for some basic biographical information, given that virtually nothing is in the public domain about him.


Dear Paul,
congratulations on your election - I'm one of your constituents.  
Could you give me further details on your profile please? The candidate pages are rather vague. I'd particularly like to know:
your educational history
what businesses you run and have run
how long you have held a Wolverhampton Wanderers season ticket
whether you live in the constituency
what political posts you have held previously
what political parties and pressure groups you have been/are a member of. 
Yours with thanks,

[Vole's offline name]

No reply yet, but that's no surprise: apparently his attitude towards criticism is censorship, as this entertaining discussion shows: naughty Paul and his web-savvy friend Carl delete critical comments on his 'blog' (which consists mainly of Central Office-dictated nonsense and is updated roughly once a decade ( last entry -a shocker - : April 21st 2009).

I'll keep you posted about when/if he every replies. Maybe I'll wander down to his surgery, if he holds one. This one could run and run…

25 comments:

Christine said...

If you scroll down to the third photograph on his site (from your link) you'll find him next to someone who could quite easily put a photo of Robert Webb on his university ID card. You should get in touch with him and make money in the lookylikey trade as the popular comedy duo. Considering how things are going at the university it's a sound Plan B.

The Plashing Vole said...

You're so right. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Though actually, if I persuaded Grant Shapps to join me on the variety circuit, it would stop him posoning the country with his revolting political views.

Christine said...

If I knew he was going to be forced to wear this for money..

http://tinyurl.com/3a83eoz

..I would feel so much better about the election results.

The Plashing Vole said...

Ewwww. That's genuinely revolting. I suspect a few (male) Tory MPs DO wear such garments. Remember Stephen Milligan?

Ewarwoowar said...

"A wide range of curries is a plus. But there again, I've got the recipes." - BNP leader Nick Griffin on the benefits of immigration (March 2010)

The Plashing Vole said...

Please tell me you're joking, Ewar.

Ewarwoowar said...

Nope, that's taken straight from a Private Eye from a few weeks back. They obviously pointed out the similarity with the Atkinson sketch, and just watching the video of it there reminded me.

Whether Griffin was having a wry joke and knows his comedy or whether he's a massive racist twat, I'll let others decide.

Anonymous said...

I too have sent Mr Uppal a letter asking him why 5 months after the election he still hasn't held a surgery. He also still has no Address in the Constituency

We got ourselves a right one here.........

You would think that with October the 20th looming and all the benefit cuts been lauded as the way forward that he would want to hear what his constituents had to say especially as Wolverhampton now has higher unemployment than anywhere else in the country

He doesnt give a f**k obviously

Ade

Anonymous said...

I too have sent Mr Uppal a letter asking him why 5 months after the election he still hasn't held a surgery. He also still has no Address in the Constituency

We got ourselves a right one here.........

You would think that with October the 20th looming and all the benefit cuts been lauded as the way forward that he would want to hear what his constituents had to say especially as Wolverhampton now has higher unemployment than anywhere else in the country

He doesnt give a f**k obviously

Ade

The Plashing Vole said...

Judging by his speeches, he's interested in one thing - the wellbeing and prestige of one Mr. Paul Uppal. He definitely doesn't want to hear from constituents - getting the job was a prize, not a duty.

I've just sent of an FOI request to the police about his claims of electoral fraud, and asked the Parliamentary Standards people about his administration of the All-Party Urban Development Group. Let's see what happens.

dexey said...

I've emailed him four times without a reply.
BTW, when I read Private Eye in the '60's it wasn't regarded as authoritive. Has it changed?

The Plashing Vole said...

Don't expect one in a hurry - and there's no sanction, apparently.

PE is a lot more mainstream than it was in the 60s. The jokes are mostly not funny, but the investigative journalism in the back is genuinely impressive.

dexey said...

I've just had an email reply from Paul Uppal!
I don't suppose that the Express and Star being copied in had anything to do with it.

The Plashing Vole said...

Bloody hell. Amazing. Any chance of a summary?

dexey said...

Since that post I've had a reply from Baroness Warsi's office about my thoughts on Paul Uppal's communication skills and an email from Mr Uppal's Parliamentary Assistant.
It is possible that he lives.

The Plashing Vole said...

Wow. It may be that the pressure is starting to show. Can you share the detail of your replies?
Good work!

dexey said...

No, the detail doesn't belong here.
In general, one was asking what the content was of the emails that weren't answered previously, another related to a story in the Express & Star yesterday that concerned confidential details being 'lost' by the council, and the Baroness Warsi one was to tell me that Mr Uppal had been prodded.

Maybe a good time to be sending emails; he has now learnt a little more about his job.

Anonymous said...

He says he has been a lawyer, that should be easily checked with the Law Society. It is a crime to say you are a lawyer, when you are not.

This man is going to do nothing, look at what he said about crime and look at what they are doing.

The Plashing Vole said...

That's interesting: I haven't seen that claim, and he studied Politics, not law. Must check that. Got a reference?

dexey said...

He doesn't say he has been a lawyer he says that he has been his own lawyer and builder and .....
Read it here:
http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Uppal_Paul.aspx

The Plashing Vole said...

Thanks Dexey - I found this quote used everywhere when I looked today. Not actionable, more's the pity. Keep chasing him.

dexey said...

I hope that it is ok to raise this again.
I hadn't had a reply to an email that I sent Paul Uppal on the 20th Oct so I resent it late last night adding that it was being blogged that he was finding time to raise questions in the House regarding his business interests.
I have had a very full reply first thing this morning!
This is in the reply:
I note from a previous email that you enquired regarding my surgeries. They are held at my office in Wolverhampton on Friday afternoons, by appointment only. To arrange an appointment, please call 01902 712134. Also, if you would like to ensure your correspondence is always received, it may be better to send a letter with your questions to my Westminster office at:

Mr Paul Uppal MP
House of Commons
Westminster
London
SW1A 0AA.

I will ignore the bit about letters :0)

The Plashing Vole said...

Thanks Dexey. What utter cheek: appointment only. I wonder if any other MPs restrict access in this way.

Keep plugging on.

Anonymous said...

I too have sent Mr Uppal a letter asking him why 5 months after the election he still hasn't held a surgery. He also still has no Address in the Constituency,
On top of that he refused to sort out my education issues.

The Plashing Vole said...

Anonymous: keep plugging away. Apparently he holds surgeries on Fridays 'by appointment'.

Don't hold your breath on education. Uppal has one interest in politics: Uppal. To that end he'll ignore his constituents entirely and vote exactly the way his whips tell him to. He's not interested in our lives at all.