London, July 3 : The number game in the Indian parliamentary system began in the early 1990s when a few MPs were “awarded handsomely” for supporting the then Union Government in a minority. Lately, it seems, the phenomenon has reached across the seven seas to UK too. Recently, a member of the House of Commons was promised a “reward’ by his own partyman in return of his vote that led to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s survival as the Labour leader.
The chief whip of the Labour Party in the House of Commons, Geoff Hoon reportedly sent a handwritten note to Keith Vaz, whose vote resulted in Brown’s win, thanking him for his crucial vote and promising him “reward” for the same.
Thanks to Vaz’s vote, Brown won the key vote by just nine votes.