A Labour peer was publicly humiliated in the House of Lords on Monday when he apparently fell asleep during a pivotal moment of the debate.
Lord Young of Norwood Green was told by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist in front of the House that he could not join the debate on regulations governing genetic modification on crops because he had just nodded off.
Lord Young had attempted to share his view when he said: “I wanted to take part in this debate because I stake my position as somebody who is a Remainer, but if there’s two things that I welcome in coming out of the Common Market, one is [the EU’s agricultural policy] CAP and this particular gene editing...”
Government whip Lady Bloomfield then stood up to speak over him.
She said: “I’m sorry but the noble Lord was asleep for the entire duration of the minister’s speech, he really should not participate in this debate having failed to take advantage of the ability to hear him.”
When the former union boss and previous BBC governor expressed his disbelief, Lady Bloomfield pointed out once again: “I’m afraid the noble Lord was fast asleep for the entirety of the minister’s opening speech.”
Lord Young said he was “not now” asleep, but that did not exactly impress the government whip.
She said: “I had to send a note to you – in order to wake you up – by the doorkeeper.”
The Labour peer is not the only politician to have found himself in hot water after nodding off at the wrong moment.
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared a little too relaxed on the front bench in the Commons back in September 2019, while Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne admitted he was “annoyed” at himself for dozing off in 2018 when his colleague Ken Clarke was discussing Brexit.