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Candy Crush Commons saga: Investigation launched after MP Nigel Mills caught playing game in parliamentary meeting

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Would you rather talk about pensions or play a quick game of Candy Crush?

We can guess most people’s choice, but it turns out politicians are no different to the rest of us.

A Commons investigation has been launched after an MP admitted playing “a game or two” of the hit online game Candy Crush during a parliamentary committee meeting about pensions and insurance.

Nigel Mills, the Conservative MP for Amber Valley, was caught red-handed playing the addictive game on his iPad in photos published by the Sun.

The group of MPs met last week to discuss pensions and insurance ahead of the chancellor’s Autumn Statement and a source told the newspaper they had seen him playing the game over two and a half hours.

Now the House of Commons authorities have launched an investigation into the matter, but perhaps not in the way many were expecting. The photograph is a breach of strict rules on filming in parliament and the Serjeant at Arms will seek to uncover the whistleblower, who could end up facing sanctions.

Responding to being busted, Mills admitted: “It was a long meeting on pension reforms, which is an important issue that I take very seriously.

"There was a bit of the meeting that I wasn't focusing on and I probably had a game or two. I shouldn't do it but if you check the meeting I would say I was fully engaged in asking questions that I thought were particularly important in how we get the pensions issue right.”

Even politicians find it hard to find the willpower to resist the fiendishly addictive game though. “I shall try not to do it in the future,” added Mills after he was rumbled.

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