TV'S POP Idol judge Simon Cowell has received a dose of his own medicine from East Lancashire MPs Gordon Prentice.

The Pendle Labour backbencher is one of 12 MPs who have launched a stinging attack on the judges of the TV show, who have reduced some contenders to tears with their criticisms. Mr Prentice and his 11 colleagues have put down an official Parliamentary motion condemning the judges for their "irresponsible" comments and calling on them to take hopefuls' talent into consideration, not just looks.

Some of the famous put downs by the notorious 'Mr Nasty' Simon Cowell include classics such as "That is the worst performance I have ever seen. You are not my pop idol." The MPs' Early Day motion is a way of highlighting an issue and is sent on Commons Order paper sent to all ministers, MPs and senior civil servants. It said: "We condemn the irresponsible comments of the so-called music experts on this programme when passing their judgements on the young performers. Pressurising young people, and women in particular, to conform to fit the mould sends out the wrong message not only to the participants but to other talented youngsters who may also have aspirations to progress in the music industry. We further believe contestants should be judged solely on unique talents and not on pre-conceived images and therefore call on the self-appointed image-makers to break the mould,."