MP 'needs new watch'

CONSERVATIVE MP Richard Graham should buy a new watch to prevent him being late, according to an opposition councillor.

But Mr Graham, MP for Gloucester, rejected criticism from Labour's Mark Hobbs, a Gloucester City Council member, who said missing opportunities to ask questions in the House of Commons was a "disgrace to the city".

Mr Hobbs raised the incidents at Thursday's full city council meeting.

He suggested the MP should receive further reprimand for lateness, "which was a disgrace to the city."

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But Mr Graham hit back.

He pointed out he's spoken 48 times – on time – in the last year.

"That's significantly more than the average MP, and far more than my predecessor – 29 in his last year," he said.

He pointed out that he chairs five All Party Parliamentary Groups, is secretary of a sixth, is Parliamentary Private Secretary to a Foreign Minister and is the PM's Trade Envoy to Indonesia, all of which he said are unpaid roles.