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Business of the House

I warmly welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his new role as shadow Leader of the House. Over the years he has always made the proceedings in the House the focus of his attention. He has been shadow Leader of the House before—indeed, I am the third Leader of the House that he has shadowed. He has also served with distinction as Chair of the Committee on Standards and Privileges. I look forward to working with him and I agree that the relationship between the Leader of the House and her shadow is a special relationship, and it is in the interests of the House that we work together. I also pay tribute to the former shadow Leader of the House, the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan). It was very sad that he was sacked and rusticated out of the shadow Cabinet. It looks like he was sacked for drinking champagne, which he, like most people, probably thought was in the job description of a member of the Tory party, rather than an offence. Anyway, I hope that he finds his way back into the shadow Cabinet, if not before the general election, after it. I confirm that Prime Minister's questions will take place on Wednesday 11 November and that the House will sit until 10 pm. The right hon. Gentleman is right, therefore, that all business will be shifted back on that day. He also asked about Territorial Army training, which was addressed not only in the statement made by the Prime Minister to the House yesterday, but in Prime Minister's questions, and there will be a full day's debate on defence this afternoon. I am sure, therefore, that those issues can be aired with Defence Ministers at that point. The right hon. Gentleman asked, too, about public spending, and there will be a debate on the economy next week. No doubt, the Economic Ministers leading for the Government in that debate will make it clear that, although there are encouraging signs of recovery, the economy remains fragile, and that although the recession is abating, we are not yet out of the woods. To pull the plugs, therefore, on important capital investment and support for people who become unemployed will not, I am sure, be part of the agenda to be set out next Monday. The right hon. Gentleman asked about the parliamentary calendar. I know that hon. Members are anxious to hear about this so that they can make their plans to be in their constituencies, working hard on behalf of their constituents and making appointments with them. That is why it is important that I bring the parliamentary calendar before the House as soon as I can. He also asked about the Constitutional Renewal Bill. I place on the record my thanks to hon. Members, in this House and the Lords, who served on the Joint Committee of both Houses that considered and conducted important pre-legislative scrutiny of that Bill. The right hon. Gentleman asked about press freedom in respect of reports of proceedings of this House. That is an issue of great importance and concerns rights and democracy in this country. It is about more than just press freedom; it is about the importance of this House doing its job, and about people in this country knowing what we have said in this House. It remains the case, as it should, that the Speaker, or whoever is in the Chair, decides what can be said in this House. What is said in this House has absolute privilege. The only control comes from the Chair, which is exercised judicially, and always has been. What is said in this House can be reported. So long as it is fair and truthful, it can, and must, be reported by newspapers and other media outside. It should not be subject to rulings by the courts. This House decides its own proceedings, subject only to rulings by the Chair and qualified privilege in respect of truthfulness and fairness. Subject to that only, the proceedings of this House can be reported, and cannot be impinged upon by the courts. That is our responsibility. Obviously, it is difficult to defend that, in respect of this House, if the House is not aware that our proceedings have been the subject of an injunction and prevented from publication. The House, the Table Office and the Ministry of Justice were not aware that there was an injunction on reporting proceedings in this House. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice is liaising on the matter with myself and the Speaker. I assure the House, and people in this country, that we will continue doing our business. We will make absolutely sure that it is reported and that it is not for the courts to stop that. The right hon. Gentleman also asked about the Queen's Speech. We set forth, earlier in the year, the draft legislative programme and those Bills in the pipeline at that time. We published the draft legislative programme so that people could comment on them. It is of course the case that, as the work of the Government and public debate proceed, Bills will come forward and be added later, and there is no dishonour in doing that. If a Bill on fiscal responsibility or on a national social care service is added after the draft legislative programme, it is not because it was planned at the time and held back, but because it was planned after the draft legislative programme was published. I would like to thank everybody who took part in the consultation on the draft legislative programme and remind the House that the Queen's Speech will be on 18 November. The right hon. Gentleman talked about the campaign to save general election night. There is an early-day motion on that, which hon. Members have signed, but the count is, first and foremost, a matter for the Electoral Commission.