Disabled MP says he was mocked in Parliament

BY ED WEST
A DISABLED Catholic MP has claimed that he was mocked because of his disability in the House of Commons by MPs who acted like a “pack of hyenas”.
Paul Maynard, 35, who was elected to represent Blackpool North and Cleveleys for the Conservatives in May, and suffers from mild cerebral palsy and a speech impediment after being starved of oxygen at birth, claimed that Labour MPs were “pulling faces at me, exaggerated gesticulations, really exaggerated faces”.
Cheshire-born Mr Maynard attended St Ambrose College in Altrincham and is a reader at his local church as well as a governor at a local Catholic primary school.
Several Labour MPs were accused of making faces at Mr Maynard during the debate, about child trust funds, when he refused to give way to a Labour Member of Parliament.
He told the Times: “Only they know for certain whether they were taking the mick out of my disability. But it certainly felt like it. That is why politics is held in such low esteem.” But one anonymous observer explained that “the problem was that people didn’t know Mr Maynard was disabled. The moment they were told about it, they stopped making jokes”.
John Bercow, Speaker of the Commons, has issued a written statement warning MPs about such behaviour.