Editing Austin Mitchell (section)

===Politics===
He was elected to the UK Parliament at a [[1977 Great Grimsby by-election|by-election in 1977]], following the death of the previous MP, the Foreign Secretary [[Anthony Crosland|Tony Crosland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1977 By Elections, Grimsby |url=http://by-elections.co.uk/77.html |access-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012020902/http://by-elections.co.uk/77.html |archive-date=12 October 2013 |date=28 April 1977}}</ref><ref name="GH29041977">{{cite news |last1=Parkhouse |first1=Geoffrey |title=Sensation at the polls |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19770429&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=19 August 2021 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=29 April 1977 |page=1 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819050157/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19770429&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> At the time Mitchell identified himself as a [[Gaitskellism|Gaitskellite]].<ref name="bates">{{Cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/18/austin-mitchell-obituary|title = Austin Mitchell obituary|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 18 August 2021|access-date = 22 August 2021|archive-date = 22 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210822133932/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/18/austin-mitchell-obituary|url-status = live}}</ref>

Mitchell supported the introduction of television cameras to the House of Commons, raising it for discussion in 1983.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2988645.stm |work=BBC News |title=The rise and effect of MP TV |date=2 May 2003 |access-date=26 February 2010 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212171227/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/2988645.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The move opened the proceedings of the House to the wider public, who previously had only been able to follow via newspapers and, from 1978, radio. In 1986, following the [[John Stalker]] inquiry to alleged [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] "[[Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland|shoot-to-kill]]" policies in Northern Ireland, a policeman Chief Inspector Brian Woollard claimed he had been removed from the inquiry by a group of [[Freemasons]]; Mitchell backed Woollard and argued that there should be a national register of all people in authority who are Freemasons.<ref>{{cite news |title= Power of the Masons - Myth of Menace? |date= 13 July 1986 |work= Sunday People}}</ref>

In 1980, Mitchell brought in a Bill that would have televised parliamentary proceedings. The vote to allow the Bill to be entered into the House which resulted in a tie vote. Then Deputy Speaker [[Bernard Weatherill]] broke to tie to allow the Bill to be debated in line with the [[Speaker Denison's rule]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1980-01-30/debates/7bc78f61-9381-4e5b-90b4-cdea9fc08a92/TelevisingOfParliament#contribution-227c65bc-212d-4268-ab34-6f077f4e8602|title=Televising Of Parliament - Hansard - UK Parliament}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1990s, Mitchell helped to highlight Jersey's role in facilitating tax evasion, drug trafficking, and money laundering, as well as the island's secretive partnership with accountancy firms [[Price Waterhouse]] and [[Ernst & Young]] to enact [[LLP]] legislation to minimise accountants' liabilities.<ref>{{cite journal |first1= Austin |last1= Mitchell |first2= Prem |last2= Sikka |author2-link= Prem Sikka, Baron Sikka |year= 1999 |title= Jersey: Auditors' Liabilities versus People's Rights |journal= [[The Political Quarterly]] |volume= 70 |issue= 1 |pages= 3–15 |doi= 10.1111/1467-923X.00199 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |first1= Austin |last1= Mitchell |first2= Prem |last2= Sikka |first3= Hugh |last3= Willmott |year= 2001 |title= Policing Knowledge by Invoking the Law: critical accounting and the politics of dissemination |url= http://scinet.dost.gov.ph/union/Downloads/sdarticle_176374.pdf |journal= [[Critical Perspectives on Accounting]] |volume= 12 |issue= 5 |pages= 527–555 |doi= 10.1006/cpac.2000.0452 |access-date= 19 July 2021 |archive-date= 19 July 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210719171223/http://scinet.dost.gov.ph/union/Downloads/sdarticle_176374.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> In the 1997-2001 parliament, Mitchell was a member of the [[Agriculture Select Committee]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=House of Commons - Agriculture - First Report |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmagric/94/9401.htm |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=publications.parliament.uk}}</ref>

In the [[2001 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2001 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Mitchell was appointed an [[Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to New Zealand interests in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2001 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2001 |date=4 June 2001 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052715/https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2001 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2002, he temporarily changed his name to Austin Haddock as [[haddock]] is a staple catch for his constituents that was suffering a decline and it was his wish to promote it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2290283.stm |title=MP changes name to Haddock |date=1 October 2002 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 February 2010 |archive-date=24 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124182821/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2290283.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was chair of the Parliamentary All-Party Photography Group and he regularly exhibited in the APPG's annual photography exhibition.<ref>APPG Exhibition. [https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-145/753941-volume-145-page-78?q=Mitchell RPS Journal, April 2005, p. 141] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819074907/https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-145/753941-volume-145-page-78?q=Mitchell |date=19 August 2021 }}.</ref> He campaigned for the recognition of photographers' rights after an over-zealous police officer deleted photographs, without his permission, from his camera's memory card at the 2005 Labour Conference in Brighton.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/mitchell-37381|title='Isis' terror stop 'ridiculous', says Austin Mitchell|date=27 October 2014|work=Amateur Photographer|access-date=13 March 2017|archive-date=14 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314064530/http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/mitchell-37381|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7351252.stm|title=Innocent photographer or terrorist?|work=BBC News|access-date=13 March 2017|date=17 April 2008|archive-date=9 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109221123/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7351252.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/photography-review-a-big-advance-says-austin-mitchell-mp-17994|title=Photography review 'a big advance', says Austin Mitchell MP - Amateur Photographer|date=2 February 2011|work=Amateur Photographer|access-date=13 March 2017|archive-date=14 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314064233/http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/photography-review-a-big-advance-says-austin-mitchell-mp-17994|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.photographyblog.com/articles/know_your_photography_rights/|title=Know Your Photography Rights {{!}} PhotographyBLOG|access-date=13 March 2017|archive-date=14 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314063337/http://www.photographyblog.com/articles/know_your_photography_rights/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4291424.stm|title= UK {{!}} UK Politics {{!}} MP's anger after camera is seized|website=BBC News|access-date=13 March 2017|date=28 September 2005|archive-date=23 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823184200/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4291424.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.g7uk.com/photo-video-blog/20080405-mp-fights-for-photographers-rights.shtml|title=MP fights for photographers' rights {{!}} g7uk|website=www.g7uk.com|access-date=13 March 2017|date=5 April 2008|archive-date=14 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314062930/http://www.g7uk.com/photo-video-blog/20080405-mp-fights-for-photographers-rights.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2007, Mitchell wrote a front-page article for ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper in which he criticised the treatment of a family of [[Asylum seeker|asylum-seekers]] in his constituency. This article quoted him as saying that certain correspondents on the subject to the website of the local newspaper, the ''[[Grimsby Telegraph]]'', were "lumpen lunatics."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2204089.ece |work=The Independent |location=London |title=Austin Mitchell: Treatment of model family makes me ashamed to be a Labour MP |date=1 February 2007 |access-date=25 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725003623/http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2204089.ece |archive-date=25 July 2008}}</ref> The ''Grimsby Telegraph'' covered the response in which it stood by the MP but also reported that a number of readers had called for his resignation.<ref>''Grimsby Telegraph'', Friday, 2 February 2007, pp.&nbsp;1, 4–5</ref>

He was a member of the [[Socialist Campaign Group]] – although this affiliation did not prevent him from nominating [[Gordon Brown]] (rather than [[John McDonnell]]) for the [[2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2007 Labour Party leadership election]]. As a supporter of the [[Better Off Out]] campaign, Mitchell was a [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]] and he opposed the [[Common Fisheries Policy]]. He supported Leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, and he commented that 'the EU is a racket run at Britain's expense, a system bonding national elites together to ignore the people'.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mitchell|first1=Austin|title=Brexit has challenged the comfort and authority of the Establishment|url=https://brexitcentral.com/brexit-has-challenged-the-comfort-and-authority-of-the-establishment/|website=Brexit Central|access-date=18 August 2021|date=24 October 2019|archive-date=15 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615104228/https://brexitcentral.com/brexit-has-challenged-the-comfort-and-authority-of-the-establishment/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mitchell was also a keen supporter of the [[Additional Member System]], (the electoral system used in elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly), and called a Private Members' Debate on this issue on 1 December 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2009-12-01/debates/09120132000002/details|title=Proportional Representation - Hansard - UK Parliament|access-date=22 August 2021|archive-date=22 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822134117/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2009-12-01/debates/09120132000002/details|url-status=live}}</ref>

As part of an independent audit conducted after the [[United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal]] of 2009, in which expense claims between 2004 and 2008 for second homes were examined, Mitchell was discovered to have wrongly claimed £10,549 for mortgage repayments. He explained that this was as a result of an oversight in 2006; in January 2010, he issued an apology and repaid the funds.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/7077818/MPs-expenses-Austin-Mitchell-repays-10000.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=MPs' expenses: Austin Mitchell repays £10,000 | date=26 January 2010 | access-date=25 April 2010 | archive-date=29 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129175126/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/7077818/MPs-expenses-Austin-Mitchell-repays-10000.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8479926.stm | work=BBC News | title=Veteran Labour MP repays £10,500 | date=25 January 2010 | access-date=25 April 2010 | archive-date=12 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212171226/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8479926.stm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mp-apologises-for-pound10000-expenses-error-1879580.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=MP apologises for £10,000 expenses error | first=Daniel | last=Bentley | date=26 January 2010 | access-date=25 April 2010 | archive-date=29 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129170559/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mp-apologises-for-pound10000-expenses-error-1879580.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

During 2010, Mitchell participated in ''[[Tower Block of Commons]]'', a [[Channel 4]] documentary where MPs live in [[tower block]]s and in with ordinary residents in deprived areas. Mitchell, who insisted on living in his own flat with his wife instead of living with the local residents,<ref>{{cite web |author=Robert Epstein |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/tower-block-of-commons-channel-4brtrue-stories-moving-to-mars-more4-1891489.html |title=Tower Block of Commons, Channel 4True Stories: Moving to Mars, More4 – Reviews – TV & Radio |work=The Independent |date=7 February 2010 |access-date=17 April 2014 |archive-date=17 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417061112/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/tower-block-of-commons-channel-4brtrue-stories-moving-to-mars-more4-1891489.html |url-status=live }}</ref> was criticised for his apparent lack of engagement in comparison to his Liberal Democrat and Conservative counterparts. He claimed the production company misled him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/17/fool-tower-block-of-commons-austin-mitchell |title=I was a fool to appear in Tower Block of Commons, says MP Austin Mitchell |first=Andrew |last=Sparrow |date=17 February 2010 |access-date=26 February 2010 |work=The Guardian |location=London |archive-date=17 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417092804/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/17/fool-tower-block-of-commons-austin-mitchell |url-status=live }}</ref> Mitchell was the President of the Debating Group.<ref name="Debating Group website">{{cite web |url=http://debatinggroup.org.uk |title=The Debating Group |publisher=The Debating Group |date=24 March 2014 |access-date=17 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405041029/http://debatinggroup.org.uk/ |archive-date=5 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 29 October 2012, Mitchell directed a [[Twitter|tweet]] at former [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Louise Mensch]], saying "A good wife doesn’t disagree with her master in public and a good little girl doesn’t lie about why she quit politics." He also referred to Mensch as "Menschkin." The comments were widely condemned as being sexist, with Mensch demanding an apology from both Mitchell and [[Ed Miliband]]. Mitchell responded that he was being "ironic".<ref>{{cite news|last=Quinn|first=Ben|title=Labour MP defends 'ironic' Louise Mensch tweet|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/30/louise-mensch-austin-mitchell-twitter|access-date=30 October 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=30 October 2012|archive-date=17 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417140425/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/30/louise-mensch-austin-mitchell-twitter|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2014, Mitchell announced that he would not be standing in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|next general election]], which was held in May 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-27058854|title=Veteran Labour MP Austin Mitchell to step down|date=16 April 2014|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 April 2014|archive-date=18 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418062544/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-27058854|url-status=live}}</ref>