Asia Provocateur: Abhisit's invitation to speak to Parliament debunk: official UK Parliament response.

Asia Provocateur: Abhisit's invitation to speak to Parliament debunk: official UK Parliament response

Andrew Spooner, 10 December 2012

Brief post but just had a response from the UK Parliament's press office. And it is unequivocal. Abhisit was not invited by Parliament nor was he invited to speak to Parliament nor was the person who invited him, chair of the Thailand All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), Roger Godsiff MP, even an official representative of Parliament. That he and Korn claimed they were invited by Parliament is quite risible. They were invited to a simple reception inside the Parliament building hosted by an MP. 

With regards to your query, foreign politicians often address parliamentarians at meetings of APPGs or receptions, but this should not be taken as an invitation to address Parliament as a whole, as APPGs have no official status within Parliament.  An Address to Parliament normally takes place as part of a state visit, and involves a speech to both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.  A formal address is a comparatively rare event, and you can see a listing of some of the most recent ones here:http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04092.pdf. 

Korn: more lies about his and Abhisit's "invitation to speak at the UK Parliament" | Asia Provocateur

Korn: more lies about his and Abhisit's "invitation to speak at the UK Parliament" | Asia Provocateur

Andrew Spooner, 9 December 2012

Yesterday I blogged about Korn's grandiose Facebook claims that Abhisit and he had been invited by the UK Parliament to speak there during a reception hosted by the Thai Children's Trust.

As stated yesterday after checking both the Thai Children's Trust and Parliament website I could find no mention of either Korn or Abhisit's attendance or invitation.

Korn has recent form on bizarre statements and claims with tasteless, oddball comparisons of the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra to "Hitler".

Korn's team have now reacted to my claims and published a photo of Korn's invitation to attend a reception at Parliament. The event is hosted by Roger Godsiff, the Labour Party MP who is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Thailand.

Very obviously this invitation is not from the Parliament nor is it one to speak. It is a simple reception invitation from an MP acting as a host. Receptions like this are being hosted several times a day in the UK Parliament with a huge range of people being invited.

So let's reiterate: an invitation to a reception at Parliament is absolutely not an invitation from the UK Parliament to speak and to claim that it is is completely absurd. In fact, over the last two months I've personally been invited to two similar receptions and at no time did I make the ludicrous claim I'd been invited to speak at the Parliament.

 Korn also claimed Abhisit was invited by the parliament to speak. I will ask the Parliament press office tomorrow if the Parliament has invited either Korn or Abhisit to speak. I will also inform Roger Godsiff MP that Korn deliberately misrepresented his invitation to Thais and claimed it was a parliamentary invite to speak when it was just a basic invitation to a reception.