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Another MP has been quoting grime lyrics in Parliament

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 30 November 2017

The long tradition of MPs misquoting pop lyrics in Parliament continues. Although Fiona Onasanya MP dropping a line from Big Shaq’s ‘Man’s Not Hot’ into her response to the government’s new budget last week almost went unnoticed.

Picking holes in the quite holey budget, the Labour MP for Peterborough said: “There was no extra money in the budget for the education system. This is not as simple as saying, ‘two plus two is four, minus three is one – quick maths’. These announcements mean real-term cuts and the potential continuation of the recruitment and retention crisis in our education system”.

It wasn’t until this week that someone on Twitter pointed out the Big Shaq lyrical reference, prompting Onasanya to tweet: “Happy days, someone noticed!”

Of course, it’s possible people did notice and they just didn’t want to point out that she got it wrong. The line is actually, “two plus two is four, minus one that’s three – quick maths”. Maybe the rejig of the words was making some sort of a political point. I don’t know and I don’t have the energy to work it out. But even if her maths is right, her lyrical references lack accuracy.

Still, as these incidents go, it’s not as painful as when Croydon MP Sarah Jones quoted Stormzy’s ‘Big For Your Boots’ during her maiden speech. Nor could it be as bad as David Cameron’s pitiful attempts to pretend he has any interest or understanding of music whatsoever.

I’m all for British politics modernising and throwing out all the traditional jeering and braying that makes MPs look like the worst collection of humans ever assembled, but this pop quoting has to stop. Someone start a petition!