"in name only"

Earlier this week we wrote about MPs missing select committee meetings. Amongst those was Adam Afriyie. Hephas "hit back" in his local paper, arguing that he wasponly ever a member of the powerful and importantpchildrens schools and families select committee "in name only". I've never heard of such thing. But judge for yourself. Loving the quotes - is that the sound of violins.....?p From the Windsor and Maidenhead Observer Reporter WINDSOR MP Adam Afriyie has slammed a report in national newspaper The Times - after it claimed he routinely skipped meetings. The report in Wednesday’s paper claimed Mr Afriyie was among backbenchers who missed more than half of their commons committee meetings last year. It went onto say the Conservative only attended three out of 45 Children, Schools and Family Committee meetings. However, a spokesman for Adam Afriyie said the MP was involved in a number of committees - many of which he attends on a regular basis. The spokesman said: “Adam Afriyie is one of the most hard-working and conscientious MPs. "He is shadow minister for Science and Innovation, one of the most cost-effective MPs and has a 100 per cent attendance record on many committees.It was always understood that he would be helping the Parliamentary process by agreeing to be a ‘name only’ member of the CSF committee to enable it to function.With 4 young children, including three babies, we’re amazed that he’s been able to be so active throughout. It probably explains his emails at 2 o’clock in the morning.” The Government has recently relaxed the rules on meeting attendance allowing parliamentary private secretaries to sit on select committees. Mr Afriyie added: “With so many official and unofficial responsibilities it is well understood that one has to balance time carefully.I can understand why some people would wish to paint an entirely inaccurate picture – I guess that’s the nature of being in the public eye.”