Farewell Tony Banks

Lord Stratford, former British Labour MP Tony Banks, died in the Florida today having suffered a massive stroke. He is famed amongst British beekeepers for having registered his gift of honey from his local beekeeping association in the House of Commons Register of Interests. His fierce but ascerbic wit will be sorely missed:

Tory MP, Terry Dicks, was dismissed as “living proof that a pig's bladder on the end of a stick can be elected to Parliament”.

... he accused Lady Thatcher of having “the sensitivity of a sex-starved boa-constrictor” during a Commons debate.

... a keen animal rights activist tabled a motion condemning human beings as “obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal”. It also “looked forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the Earth and wipes them out, thus giving nature the opportunity to start again”.

More of his quips here.