OPINION: What do Tory MPs and Jockeys have in common?

No, it's not a joke! In the past week both Tory MPs (possibly a few Labour ones too) and horse racing jockeys have both had problems with whips - but not, for once, revelations in the tabloids about S&M parties.

I am against both type of whips - they are both wrong and have no place in a civilised and modern society.

MPs
Today, MPs from all three of the biggest parties in the House of Commons will be under a three-line whip to follow the orders of their party leadership; they will be told they HAVE to vote against the motion calling for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

Now don't get me wrong - I will be by happy if this moronic and xenophobic motion is defeated in parliament later, but I am very much against party whips.

In the UK, in elections to parliament, we vote for an MP, we put a cross beside the name of the individual candidate that we feel is the best of those who have put themselves forward to represent our views, and the views of our locality, in Westminster.

We do NOT put a cross against a party name.

Parties are a very bad thing for democracy. I don't think they should exist at all. MPs should vote on their own conscience on every issue. Groupings of MPs should vary accord to the subject being discussed and not simply to look after party interests and seek personal promotions (or keep affairs quiet).

There are anti-EU MPs in both the Conservatives and Labour - they should be able to vote together. When it comes to taxation they might vote differently.

Politics needs to be returned to principles and removed from the hands of the party whips.

Jockeys
Following a lengthy consultation, the horse racing authorities introduced new rules to limit the use of the whip in races and to increase penalties for those jockeys who broke those rules. When the new rules were introduced a large number of jockeys found themselves breaking the rules and in receipt of fines and bans.

Now, jockeys are not the brightest of people - an unscientific sample from those who have been interviewed on the media in the past week suggests they are mostly a bit thick.

It seems jockeys struggled counting to 7, or to notice the furlong marker - imagine that when driving on the road: "Sorry officer, I didn't notice the STOP sign!"... you'd expect a fine and posts on your license.

The authorities reviewed and watered down the regulations and jockeys, for now, are happier. Maybe they now have a numeracy hour in the weigh-in room at meetings to help them count?

The problem with the amended rules is that jockey's wallets are now being hit less than the horses.

Whipping an animal is just wrong.

To me there is a solution; I'd ban horse racing. It is animal abuse. Sadly that won't happen yet, but I hope the public wake up soon to the atrocities of horse racing - hundreds of horses killed each year because they don't run fast enough, awful injuries in races, etc.