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Business of the House

I have a peroration that, if the hon. Gentleman can contain himself, will give him the answer to his question. I was checking up on the commitments the right hon. and learned Lady had given this House. On 11 March, she said that""it is gratifying that there were very big majorities in the House last week to resolve this matter and move forward. We have the resolutions of the House. My task now is to make sure that the House is given an opportunity to endorse the Standing Orders that will give effect to them. My mandate is the will of the House as expressed in the resolutions. We need Standing Orders to give effect to them—nothing less."—[Official Report, 11 March 2010; Vol. 507, c. 433.]" On 18 March she said:""He"—" meaning me—""need not worry about progress being made on the proposals that we shall be going forward with. We need to complete the process of placing before the House for its approval the Standing Orders ""that would give effect to the resolutions of the House, and they will indeed be brought forward"—[Official Report, 18 March 2010; Vol. 507, c. 975.]," and on 25 March:""On the Reform of the House of Commons Committee proposals, we have put on the Order Paper the Standing Orders that give effect to the resolutions of the House, and we will bring those forward for approval by the House on Monday."—[Official Report, 25 March 2010; Vol. 508, c. 380.]" She did not—she had to withdraw that commitment in a subsequent debate on the same day. The Leader of the House has to accept responsibility. She could have found the time—an hour and a half—between the beginning of March and now to debate the Standing Orders and for the House to reach a conclusion. On an earlier occasion, because one of my independently minded Back-Bench colleagues objected to a private Member's Bill, she tried to pin the responsibility on the official Opposition. By the same analogy, those who have objected to these Standing Orders are all members of her party and, by the same logic, she must accept some collective responsibility for the fact that it is Labour Members of Parliament who have tabled amendments that have obstructed their progress. In a recent argument in The House Magazine, the right hon. and learned Lady declared, in reference to parliamentary reforms, "Bring it on, Sir George". In the light of what has now happened, I am delighted to confirm to the House that that is exactly what I might have to do in a few weeks' time.