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Debate on Wednesday, 1 November 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Jack Straw. The answering member was Baroness May of Maidenhead.

Legislative Process

Debate on a motion to approve proposals in the Modernisation of the House Select Committee first report of session 2005/06 (HC 1097) regarding the committal of bills to committees with powers to take evidence and related matters. Motion on new Standing Orders for legislative process agreed on division (223 to 172). Motion on Communications Allowance agreed on division (290 to 199). Motion on September sittings - amendment negatived on division (354 to 122) - main question agreed on question. Motion on short speeches agreed on division (365 to 62). Resolved that this House approves the Procedure Committee second report (HC 714) on matters sub judice. Resolved that this House approves the Liaison Committee Second report (HC 1271) on A New Publication Order for Select Committee Evidence. Ordered that the Order of the House of 7th July 2005 relating to European Standing Committees (Temporary Nomination) shall continue to have effect until the end of the next session of Parliament.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
451 c304-422, (corrigendum) 459 
Session
2005-06
Department
Leader of the House of Commons
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Speaker's statement
Thursday, 2 November 2006
Parliamentary proceedings
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Jack Straw | 451 c304-6 (Link to this contribution) There are nine other motions covering the legislative process, the communications allowance, Septemb...
David Howarth | 451 c306 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome the development of a wider use of the Special Standing Committee procedure, whic...
Show all contributions (299)
Jack Straw | 451 c304 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House welcomes the First Report from the Select Committee on Modernisation ...
Speaker | 451 c304 (Link to this contribution) I understand that it will be convenient to discuss the following motions: Legislative Process (Stand...
Jack Straw | 451 c320 (Link to this contribution) I shall not give way again. We are covering important matters today. Taken together, they should ma...
John Bercow | 451 c320-1 (Link to this contribution) Surely, in the context of programming, which I regard as necessary but requiring flexibility, the is...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c320 (Link to this contribution) I aim to cover the subjects in the order in which they are set out in the various motions, as the Le...
Jack Straw | 451 c319 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The power will allow a relatively large number of Members to speak briefly towards the end o...
John Bercow | 451 c319 (Link to this contribution) Except for the Leader of the House.
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c321 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has moved on to the subject of programming, which I was about to address. He has rais...
Simon Hughes | 451 c322 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with the right hon. Lady’s last point. The world outside thinks that it is nonsense...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c321-2 (Link to this contribution) That suggestion has not been received with complete approval in all parts of the House, although my ...
Joan Ruddock | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) Since all the modernisation—not enough in my view—has occurred, the House sits for longer. There is ...
Jack Straw | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way briefly, but I am conscious that I have already spoken for 47 minutes and that othe...
Joan Ruddock | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Jack Straw | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) I hope that my hon. Friend will be able to put that point to the House. I supported that argument in...
David Winnick | 451 c317-8 (Link to this contribution) If I can catch the Speaker’s eye, I hope later to speak to my proposed amendment to the effect that ...
Jack Straw | 451 c319 (Link to this contribution) Now is not the moment to debate why the European Scrutiny Committee has a discretion to sit in priva...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 451 c319 (Link to this contribution) The Leader of the House started his speech by saying that the public should understand our procedure...
Jack Straw | 451 c318-9 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I must make progress on the remaining motions, beginning with t...
Pete Wishart | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Jack Straw | 451 c318 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point about the motion and the future work of the Modernisation Comm...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c325 (Link to this contribution) I do not pretend that constituents are always waiting eagerly by their letter boxes for a glossy to ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c326 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, that concern underlies several comments made by Conservative Members. There is a fine balanc...
Bernard Jenkin | 451 c326 (Link to this contribution) My principal concern about the communications allowance is that it will be used to promote the image...
Speaker | 451 c327 (Link to this contribution) Order. Over-communication there, I think.
Dawn Butler | 451 c326 (Link to this contribution) I am bemused by some of the arguments that we are hearing in relation to the communication allowance...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c327 (Link to this contribution) Is not part of the answer to the reasonable concerns that have been expressed to have strict rules a...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c327 (Link to this contribution) It is up to individual Members to decide how they wish to communicate with their constituents. One d...
Speaker | 451 c324 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that our own affairs give us enough with which to concern ourselves.
David Leslie Taylor | 451 c323-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride) described the communications allowance as a save-our...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c322-3 (Link to this contribution) Yes, having some ability to amend such legislation would be appropriate. If we were to consider the ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c324 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that one individual who has not sent a single letter is a Member wh...
Martin Salter | 451 c324 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the comments of the shadow Leader of the House about the confusion over circular letters. ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c324 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I will return to the rather different matter of the business of the H...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c325 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, it is appropriate for parties, not individual Members, to fund some circulars, although I kn...
Simon Hughes | 451 c325 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady understand that there is all the difference in the world between Members re...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c324-5 (Link to this contribution) The Leader of the House indicates that the hon. Member for Reading, West (Martin Salter) might have ...
Joan Ruddock | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Martin Salter | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Jack Straw | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) I give way first to my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock).
Peter Bone | 451 c313 (Link to this contribution) Would the allowance enable Members to send out a survey, with a prepaid reply, to find out the views...
Jack Straw | 451 c313 (Link to this contribution) The detailed rules are to be worked out. The basic rule involves some fine judgments, as we all unde...
Pete Wishart | 451 c313 (Link to this contribution) As the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, almost every Committee of the House has looked into the issue...
Jack Straw | 451 c313-4 (Link to this contribution) My judgment is that it is better to work together on the issue in a sensible way rather than to chan...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c313 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for clarifying that point, but is he suggesting that the c...
Jack Straw | 451 c313 (Link to this contribution) As the right hon. Lady knows, at present there is no limit on prepaid stationery and envelopes. She ...
Jack Straw | 451 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) That is not the view taken by the various groups that have looked pretty independently at these matt...
Jo Swinson | 451 c312 (Link to this contribution) How can the right hon. Gentleman justify a proposal for an additional allowance? Our existing allowa...
Jack Straw | 451 c311 (Link to this contribution) I have not been here as long as my hon. Friend, who may just remember Lloyd George—and I shall not m...
Chris Mullin | 451 c311 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right to say that our constituents’ expectations have risen, and the demands...
Jack Straw | 451 c311 (Link to this contribution) I believe that. I once saw a Labour Member emptying his locker, with mail in it, into the bin. I sai...
John Bercow | 451 c310-1 (Link to this contribution) I had the pleasure of going to the west bank and Gaza with Baroness Williams of Crosby, and she said...
John Bercow | 451 c310 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman allow me to intervene, on that point?
Jack Straw | 451 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe for a second that the net cost will be as the hon. Lady describes. As colleagues kn...
Jack Straw | 451 c316 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, West and the hon. Member for Stratford-on...
Martin Salter | 451 c316-7 (Link to this contribution) The Leader of the House will be aware that local councillors, far from being emasculated, actually h...
Jack Straw | 451 c317 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s point, and it will be taken into account by the Members Estimate Comm...
Jack Straw | 451 c317 (Link to this contribution) It depends also on the size of the cap, which is related. The combination of the two would mean an o...
Julie Kirkbride | 451 c316 (Link to this contribution) The Leader of the House puts his case with his characteristic charm, but he must be aware that most ...
Jack Straw | 451 c316 (Link to this contribution) If I may say so, the hon. Lady’s comment is unworthy of her, because the truth is that Members on bo...
Jack Straw | 451 c315 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. May I say to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire that if she is con...
Christopher Chope | 451 c315 (Link to this contribution) Taking further the example of a controversial planning issue in a constituency, why does the right h...
Martin Salter | 451 c314-5 (Link to this contribution) Not for long. Does my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House agree that it would be an absolute ...
Jack Straw | 451 c316 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s point, and it is worth bearing in mind that there is good evidence th...
Jack Straw | 451 c315 (Link to this contribution) If I may say so, with all due respect to parliamentary language, the hon. Gentleman’s last comment w...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) The Member for Reading, East is a Conservative.
Jack Straw | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, which relates to the question put by my hon. Friend the Mem...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c310 (Link to this contribution) Before he moves on to the next motion, will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Modernisation Comm...
Jack Straw | 451 c310 (Link to this contribution) The answer is yes. The requirements of brevity mean that I cannot cover every recommendation. Howeve...
Jack Straw | 451 c308-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Lady. We can look at that issue, but it is a different matter. As fo...
David Heath | 451 c308 (Link to this contribution) Are there any circumstances in which the Leader of the House can envisage it being of benefit for a ...
Jack Straw | 451 c309-10 (Link to this contribution) That was the general rule. The report also makes a number of observations about other stages in the...
Jack Straw | 451 c309 (Link to this contribution) We thought about that in Committee, but the view was taken that there has to be one rule for amendme...
Robert Smith | 451 c309 (Link to this contribution) Will the Leader of the House clarify the point about notice for amendments? He said that the notice ...
Jack Straw | 451 c307-8 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. Having left home affairs and foreign affairs I thought that I had escaped the hon. Gentleman...
Bernard Jenkin | 451 c308 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman seems to have travelled a long way since he was in the Foreign Office.
Jack Straw | 451 c308 (Link to this contribution) I do not understand at all what the hon. Gentleman could mean. I obviously need further and better p...
John Bercow | 451 c306 (Link to this contribution) In common with the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth), I welcome the proposed extension of th...
Greg Knight | 451 c306 (Link to this contribution) Does the Leader of the House support the point my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow...
Jack Straw | 451 c306 (Link to this contribution) I know that there is much to be said on both sides on that issue. The hon. Gentleman makes a strong ...
William Cash | 451 c307 (Link to this contribution) Does the Leader of the House recognise—I suspect that he will understand where I am coming from—that...
Jack Straw | 451 c306-7 (Link to this contribution) Well, I am treading on broken glass on this matter. As I said, I think that the hon. Member for Buck...
Jack Straw | 451 c307 (Link to this contribution) It is good to see the hon. Gentleman. No speech of mine is complete without an intervention by him. ...
Lord Maples | 451 c361-2 (Link to this contribution) Well, the hon. Gentleman worked out that people who were spending £25,000 a year on postage were sen...
John Bercow | 451 c362 (Link to this contribution) I realise that my hon. Friend has moved on from this matter, but in light of the importance of his e...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c361 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend give the House an indication of how long it would take him to get from Westminst...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c360 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. When I was leader of the Labour group on Westminster city council 10 or 12 ...
Lord Maples | 451 c361 (Link to this contribution) That is the most extraordinary speech that I have heard in the House. The hon. Member for Hendon (Mr...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c361 (Link to this contribution) The short answer is that, bearing in mind the hours that the House sits, I would not get back to my ...
Robert Walter | 451 c359 (Link to this contribution) I am fascinated by the hon. Gentleman’s account of the volume of his correspondence. Does he individ...
Lord Beamish | 451 c360 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that this question relates not only to councillors’ and council leaders’ a...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c359 (Link to this contribution) Sometimes I do and sometimes I do not. On Monday, I signed 350 letters and it took me an hour. I hav...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c359 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. My main concern about the communications budget is whether it crea...
Speaker | 451 c359 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members of the motions that we are discussing.
Andrew Dismore | 451 c359 (Link to this contribution) In London, turnout is traditionally lower because we have a much higher turnover on the electoral re...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c358-9 (Link to this contribution) I, too, have listened carefully to the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Following the intervention of my h...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) I believe that it was about 60 per cent., which is good for London. However, that is not the point. ...
Nicholas Winterton | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman with great interest. He is making a case for himself as the mos...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman grew up there so perhaps he could tell us. Another lady wrote:"““I would be happ...
John Bercow | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) There is something funny in the water supply in Hendon.
Andrew Dismore | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) Those who have communicated by e-mail will get a copy but I am not sure about the others. Some const...
John Bercow | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) Yes, my mother is one of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and he has helped her on a number of occa...
John Bercow | 451 c352 (Link to this contribution) I did not hear my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell) or my hon. Friend the M...
Chris Mullin | 451 c352 (Link to this contribution) If that is so, I stand corrected, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has noticed that many hon. M...
Lord Young of Cookham | 451 c352-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin). He carried me with hi...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c355-6 (Link to this contribution) I particularly want to refer to the communication allowance, as I have been named three times direct...
Charles Walker | 451 c356 (Link to this contribution) ““Yours sincerely, Mr. Dismore””.
Andrew Dismore | 451 c356-7 (Link to this contribution) No, it signed by Mr. Michael Morris of The Rise, NW7. The fact remains, how much are we talking abo...
Martin Salter | 451 c357 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and not least for sparing the House from hearing any more abo...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c357 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure about the last point, but the allowance certainly will curtail my activities and my co...
John Bercow | 451 c357 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Andrew Dismore | 451 c358 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the hon. Gentleman’s mother is one of my constituents.
Martin Salter | 451 c350 (Link to this contribution) Does not my hon. Friend accept that the communications allowance, coupled with the impending cap on ...
Chris Mullin | 451 c350-1 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree that it includes Members on both sides of the House. Whether it results in a serio...
Greg Knight | 451 c349 (Link to this contribution) I agree with every aspect of that intervention. I think that a business Committee would be good news...
Chris Mullin | 451 c349-50 (Link to this contribution) At the outset, may I say that I agree with my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House that the qua...
David Heath | 451 c351 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recall that when we did sit in September it seemed somehow impossible to tim...
Chris Mullin | 451 c351 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. I am at least grateful to my right hon. Friend the Le...
Nicholas Winterton | 451 c351 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech and seeking fully to justify what he supports and d...
Chris Mullin | 451 c351 (Link to this contribution) My recollection is that the House did rise early in that way once, but, as with many aspects of Robi...
Chris Mullin | 451 c351-2 (Link to this contribution) I prefer the word ““publicly””. Whatever the current degree of enthusiasm for September sittings in...
Greg Knight | 451 c346 (Link to this contribution) The matter is not yet cut and dried. The Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs go...
Nicholas Winterton | 451 c348 (Link to this contribution) May I raise a matter that has just been touched on and that is the need for Members of Parliament to...
Greg Knight | 451 c348 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Business managers on the Government side now have a far easie...
John Bercow | 451 c348 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May), the shadow Leader of the House, was at be...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c347 (Link to this contribution) I take the point that the right hon. Gentleman is making, but does not he think that we should not b...
Greg Knight | 451 c347-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a fair view. I said at the outset that there are differing opinions on the matter. Having se...
Ann Coffey | 451 c348 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the additional difficulty in respect of finding substantive...
Greg Knight | 451 c348 (Link to this contribution) I would not have thought that that was a particular problem, but I know that business managers on th...
Dawn Butler | 451 c341 (Link to this contribution) The Youth Parliament is seeking to have a debate in the House of Commons. The national Youth Parliam...
Ann Coffey | 451 c341-2 (Link to this contribution) Yes, as my hon. Friend says, there is a lot of interest in Parliament among young people; theirs is ...
Greg Knight | 451 c345 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful for the support of my hon. Friend, who is a distinguished former Chairman of the ...
Lord Beamish | 451 c346 (Link to this contribution) That clarifies the position and is helpful to those of us who have experienced the lengthy delays as...
Greg Knight | 451 c344-5 (Link to this contribution) If I may, I shall deal with that issue a little later, because a development is taking place, to whi...
Nicholas Winterton | 451 c345 (Link to this contribution) May I commend my right hon. Friend on his Committee’s report? Does he agree with me that if Members ...
Greg Knight | 451 c343 (Link to this contribution) We took the view that it was better to proceed by a moderate degree, rather than to suggest, for exa...
Lord Beamish | 451 c344 (Link to this contribution) I accept the point that the right hon. Gentleman makes that Members could apply for an Adjournment d...
Greg Knight | 451 c342-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall start by referring to the two motions relating to sub judice, but before I get on to the mea...
Ann Coffey | 451 c341 (Link to this contribution) We on the Modernisation Committee discussed at length how we could support school visits. I know tha...
Dawn Butler | 451 c339 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that special Committees are also an important way of engaging the public w...
Ann Coffey | 451 c339 (Link to this contribution) I particularly welcome the motion relating to the legislative process, and the proposal for Bills to...
David Heath | 451 c338-9 (Link to this contribution) Our conference is not a waste of time, because it determines the policy of our party. We have this s...
Lord Redwood | 451 c338 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has thought of my point in advance. Would not right hon. and hon. Members find th...
Lord Beamish | 451 c341 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important for schools to be able to arrange visits to the Palac...
Ann Coffey | 451 c340-1 (Link to this contribution) The value of a special Committee lies in the fact that an organisation that had produced such eviden...
Ann Coffey | 451 c339-40 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, she advanced those arguments powerfully on the Moderni...
David Heath | 451 c337-8 (Link to this contribution) It is not a value judgment, but merely a recognition that different costs are involved. Given that o...
David Heath | 451 c335-7 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman should think for a moment, because it is an extraordinary proposition that ...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 451 c337 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the logical corollary of his line of argument is that we could be...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c334 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that the process in the Scottish Parliament includes pre-legislative scrutin...
David Heath | 451 c333-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick). I shall come to his ame...
David Heath | 451 c334-5 (Link to this contribution) That is a good example, but, as my hon. Friend knows, we have turned our backs on many other sensibl...
Bob Spink | 451 c335 (Link to this contribution) I want to respond to the hon. Gentleman’s remarks about programme motions. I am sure that he wants t...
David Heath | 451 c335 (Link to this contribution) That is not fair enough in a sensible, grown-up legislature. When we disagree, we should have a sens...
Greg Knight | 451 c335 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is giving the House a catalogue of complaints about the work of the Modernisation...
David Heath | 451 c335 (Link to this contribution) That is the reason why I have made my suggestions. At the moment, there is a nod and a wink between ...
David Winnick | 451 c332-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend would be perfectly entitled to make such remark about me if he would only listen for ...
David Winnick | 451 c332 (Link to this contribution) Of course I do. I have tremendous respect for my hon. Friend and I do not dispute her assertion. Sur...
Martin Salter | 451 c332 (Link to this contribution) May I chastise my hon. Friend, because he does not do himself or his argument any favours by referri...
Dawn Butler | 451 c332 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that while part of our job is to be here, it is also our job to ascertain ...
David Winnick | 451 c331-2 (Link to this contribution) I have a great deal of respect for my right hon. Friend, as he knows, but my view is as I stated it ...
Jack Straw | 451 c331 (Link to this contribution) First, the purpose of the motion in my name is to enable the House to make a decision on the subject...
David Winnick | 451 c330 (Link to this contribution) One thing is absolutely certain—as has already been pointed out, if the amendment is rejected and a ...
Pete Wishart | 451 c330 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman see any merit in the suggestion that the House should return earlier for the...
David Winnick | 451 c330 (Link to this contribution) I intend to press my amendment to the motion on September sittings to a Division at the appropriate ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c329-30 (Link to this contribution) Yes, he is the silent Europe Minister, as the hon. Gentleman reminds me. Proposals on the subject w...
Chris Mullin | 451 c329 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady agree that to give the Government an 80-day holiday from scrutiny is unheal...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c329 (Link to this contribution) My two final points touch on that aspect. First, I welcome the opportunity that was introduced this ...
David Heath | 451 c329 (Link to this contribution) The silent Minister for Europe.
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c327-8 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. My hon. Friend makes a valid point, although at least one of those who took the Michael, as ...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c328 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady agree that the motion tabled by the Leader of the House closes the option o...
Charles Walker | 451 c327 (Link to this contribution) It is a matter of striking the right balance. Of course our constituents need to hear from us about ...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c327 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman to this extent: we need a set of rules so that every Member knows wh...
Bob Spink | 451 c392 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a characteristically excellent point, and I congratulate him on it. We must...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c392-3 (Link to this contribution) I commend the Leader of the House for motion 4, on Standing Orders, which will take forward how we d...
Bob Spink | 451 c390-1 (Link to this contribution) There are great benefits in being called early or late in a debate, as one can make a speech to many...
David Heath | 451 c391 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman was one of several Members who intervened on me, would he prefer me not to acc...
Bob Spink | 451 c391 (Link to this contribution) As usual, the hon. Gentleman makes a compelling point, and he has disabused me of that notion. I op...
Robert Goodwill | 451 c391 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that it is not only the Government who are escaping scrutiny? The European P...
Speaker | 451 c390 (Link to this contribution) Order. In his enthusiasm to pursue the argument about September sittings the hon. Gentleman is going...
Peter Bone | 451 c390 (Link to this contribution) I was trying to make the point that if those statements were made immediately before the recess, the...
Speaker | 451 c390 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman is perhaps spoiling his argument with the use of immoderate language, whic...
Peter Bone | 451 c390 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. If the House sat in September, hon. Members would not have to worry a...
Peter Bone | 451 c389-90 (Link to this contribution) It would be an appalling state of affairs if the House made its decisions according to what the medi...
Peter Bone | 451 c389 (Link to this contribution) I have not made my point clear, so I shall try again. I am saying that in September, there would be ...
Lord Beamish | 451 c389 (Link to this contribution) It would be a little naive not to recognise that the hon. Gentleman’s proposals would result in a fe...
Peter Bone | 451 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) I have never seen mass attendance in the Chamber, except during parliamentary questions. As I shall ...
Dawn Butler | 451 c389 (Link to this contribution) On a point of clarification, I understand that the hon. Gentleman supports the amendment tabled by m...
Peter Bone | 451 c388 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree. I am arguing that there should not be an 11-week gap when the Government are not s...
Lord Beamish | 451 c388 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has still not answered my first question on how long Parliament should sit throug...
Peter Bone | 451 c387-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes my point for me. For years and years, the Executive have eroded the power o...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c388 (Link to this contribution) Is it not worth pointing out that the assumption always was that if at some time September sittings ...
David Winnick | 451 c387 (Link to this contribution) I certainly do not wish to antagonise the hon. Gentleman, given that he supports my amendment. I hav...
Jack Straw | 451 c403 (Link to this contribution) I shall ask my office and the Clerk’s Department to keep me informed and shall discuss the matter wi...
Jack Straw | 451 c403 (Link to this contribution) They should indeed be seen and not heard at all times. Mr. Speaker, we are making decisions today a...
Jack Straw | 451 c400-2 (Link to this contribution) That is ultimately a matter for you, Mr. Speaker, but if I may speak for you for a moment, I can con...
Robert Key | 451 c402 (Link to this contribution) Does the Leader of the House agree that another feature that has evolved in very recent years is the...
Jack Straw | 451 c402 (Link to this contribution) I do accept that. Whether or not we sit in September, we need to remind the public of the incontrove...
David Winnick | 451 c402 (Link to this contribution) The argument is not that we sit for shorter periods than other Parliaments. We probably sit for as l...
Jack Straw | 451 c402-3 (Link to this contribution) I understand that that is the crux of the matter, and it is why I strongly supported September sitti...
Lord Maples | 451 c403 (Link to this contribution) I think that those who discussed the sub judice question during the debate agreed that we would like...
Sally Keeble | 451 c398-9 (Link to this contribution) I was going to deal with that as one of the three points. I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman ...
Jack Straw | 451 c399-400 (Link to this contribution) This has been an excellent day’s debate. It has covered the ground comprehensively, and it is striki...
Greg Knight | 451 c397-8 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady not welcome, however, the letter that I received, and from which I quoted, from t...
Lord Robathan | 451 c400 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Leader of the House for giving way and I am sorry that I missed his earlier spe...
Mark Pritchard | 451 c393 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is, by definition, likely that he would see less of his consti...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c394-6 (Link to this contribution) Not by the Leader of the House, but by some other Members. They were suggestions about how we might ...
Dawn Butler | 451 c396-7 (Link to this contribution) As a member of the Modernisation Committee, I felt it important that I should contribute to the deba...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c393-4 (Link to this contribution) The answer is simple. The House needs to sit regularly, with regular breaks. We should neither sit f...
Speaker | 451 c363 (Link to this contribution) That is not a point of order for the Chair, but the hon. Gentleman has corrected the record by makin...
Lord Maples | 451 c363-4 (Link to this contribution) I will check the record. I was present, and I seem to remember the speech going on for much longer t...
Sally Keeble | 451 c364 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I hope to catch the Deputy Speaker’s eye later i...
Lord Maples | 451 c364 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way in a moment, as I know that the hon. Lady has been involved in the matter as well. ...
Lord Maples | 451 c367 (Link to this contribution) It would be inappropriate to share with the House any discussions that I have had with the Speaker, ...
Greg Knight | 451 c367 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for the fact that I was not in the Chamber when my hon. Friend started his speech, altho...
Lord Maples | 451 c365-6 (Link to this contribution) I thought that I had already said that I can see two reasons for the sub judice rule. First, it avoi...
Robert Smith | 451 c365 (Link to this contribution) When the Procedure Committee looked into the subject—the Chairman of the Committee made this point e...
Lord Maples | 451 c362 (Link to this contribution) I expect that the hon. Member for Hendon will deduce from that that he ought to be sending out 2,600...
Andrew Dismore | 451 c362 (Link to this contribution) That makes the point that I am putting forward: I am not doing this for party political or personal ...
Lord Maples | 451 c362 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman temps me again. He said earlier that he thought that the amount that people spent...
Jack Straw | 451 c362-3 (Link to this contribution) I am always happy to stick to that. My speech would have taken less than 20 minutes, but it lasted f...
Lord Maples | 451 c363 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that point, which was why I said that the limit should be 20 minutes, plus intervention...
Lord Maples | 451 c363 (Link to this contribution) No, I want to move on—[Hon. Members: ““Give way!””] The hon. Gentleman will get to make his own spee...
Speaker | 451 c363 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is entirely for the Member on his feet to choose whether to give way.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c363 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples) accuse...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c377 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for reminding me of the conclusions of the report to which...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c377 (Link to this contribution) As the Chairman of a Select Committee that generally does not deal with legislation, I have no parti...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c376-7 (Link to this contribution) May I say from this corner, where the most junior Members of the Labour Benches sit, how much we agr...
Charles Walker | 451 c375 (Link to this contribution) I do. That is an excellent suggestion. A number of suggestions could be made and the House could tak...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c375 (Link to this contribution) It has been suggested that that time on Wednesday evening could be used to deal with private Members...
Charles Walker | 451 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Reading, West (Martin Salter). Not only has he given ...
Martin Salter | 451 c371-4 (Link to this contribution) The schools in my part of the world were on holiday during one of those weeks, which answers my hon....
Helen Goodman | 451 c377-8 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend says, Members across the House say that they want a more representative Parliament...
Speaker | 451 c378 (Link to this contribution) Order. I did not interrupt the hon. Lady, but that really was a long intervention.
Martin Salter | 451 c370 (Link to this contribution) If I do, the hon. Gentleman may find it interesting.
Bob Spink | 451 c370 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman considered giving evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body?
Martin Salter | 451 c370 (Link to this contribution) No. It is worth analysing what we achieved during the September sittings in 2003 and 2004. That inf...
Lord Robathan | 451 c370 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Martin Salter | 451 c367-8 (Link to this contribution) I speak as an enthusiastic moderniser and a former long-standing member of the Modernisation Committ...
Martin Salter | 451 c368-70 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had listened to the start of my speech, he would know that I am addressing the...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 451 c368 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) has pointed out, the problem is not how lon...
Andrew Mackinlay | 451 c370 (Link to this contribution) My apologies; I wanted to be here earlier but I have been in Select Committee. My hon. Friend falls ...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c371 (Link to this contribution) I respect my hon. Friend’s views, but according to my understanding of the arrangement for the Septe...
Andrew Mackinlay | 451 c382 (Link to this contribution) It is the ingenuity point that worries me because it leaves great scope for misunderstanding and avo...
Bob Spink | 451 c385 (Link to this contribution) Oh, yes—not that that happens in Castle Point. However, those sections of the media can become polit...
Bob Spink | 451 c385 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that compelling argument about the media. Does he als...
Stuart Bell | 451 c383-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey), who serves on the House of...
Peter Bone | 451 c387 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I will come on to that point later in my speech. Members o...
Lord Beamish | 451 c387 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman’s argument. If he is suggesting that the House should...
Peter Bone | 451 c386 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Sir Stuart Bell), who made a powerful ...
Stuart Bell | 451 c385-6 (Link to this contribution) I fully agree with the hon. Gentleman. During the Cleveland child abuse crisis some 20 years ago, ce...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c378 (Link to this contribution) I agree with all my hon. Friend’s points. In that context, I recall a comment from my hon. Friend th...
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c378 (Link to this contribution) That probably proves my point. I must apologise to my hon. Friend for citing the one passage in his ...
Martin Salter | 451 c378 (Link to this contribution) I just wished to make it clear that I was being ironic.
Mark Lazarowicz | 451 c378-9 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point. Clearly if there was an overwhelming international or national crisis, Parliam...
Andrew Mackinlay | 451 c378 (Link to this contribution) Surely the example we must address is not the recall of Parliament because of an invasion of another...
Charles Walker | 451 c380 (Link to this contribution) We could rattle through the party conferences in a week, but all parties want their own week in the ...
Nick Harvey | 451 c380 (Link to this contribution) My purpose in rising in this debate is to address some remarks to motion 6 in respect of the propose...
Andrew Pelling | 451 c381 (Link to this contribution) It was in fact my predecessor who spent that amount. Does not the concrete proposal that has been ma...
Nick Harvey | 451 c380-1 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that holding the conferences at the same time would be the solution, but all the part...
Jack Straw | 451 c404 (Link to this contribution) Yes is my answer to that intervention. The right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widde...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c325-6 (Link to this contribution) May I make a little more progress? As I was going on to say—knowing the hon. Lady’s interests, this ...
Lord Maples | 451 c317 (Link to this contribution) It would help us considerably if we had some idea of what sort of figure the right hon. Gentleman en...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c328-9 (Link to this contribution) Whatever the House may choose to do today, the House may choose in future to reconsider the balance ...
Sally Keeble | 451 c397 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the chance to make a brief contribution to this debate; I am very sorry that I was...
Lord Maples | 451 c364-5 (Link to this contribution) The case in which the hon. Lady was involved has been mentioned in the debate and she may wish to ch...
Nick Harvey | 451 c381-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. The hon. Gentleman has correctly discerned the motivation of the Leader of the Hou...
Jack Straw | 451 c308 (Link to this contribution) On delegated legislation, we did not take evidence on that point, as far as I recall—
Greg Knight | 451 c346-7 (Link to this contribution) That is a powerful point. Anything that allows a Minister to change tack without losing face should ...
Lord Maples | 451 c343 (Link to this contribution) On discretion, the Order of the House regarding sub judice restricts Mr. Speaker’s discretion to a c...
Pete Wishart | 451 c325 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Lady not think that hon. Members are deluding themselves if they think that thei...
Joan Ruddock | 451 c314 (Link to this contribution) I have been a Member of the House for nearly 20 years. I have 60,000 constituents, with a huge annua...
Baroness May of Maidenhead | 451 c328 (Link to this contribution) I am tempted to say that rather more people may be interested in attending our party conferences tha...
Martin Salter | 451 c370-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point, but unfortunately that option is not before us. As the Leader of...
Nick Harvey | 451 c382-3 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with the objective of trying to put Members on an equal footing. As I have said, i...
Ann Widdecombe | 451 c404 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Leader of the House for giving way at such an opportune moment. I am about to c...
Jack Straw | 451 c306 (Link to this contribution) I certainly accept the point that if Ministers are not explaining what they hope to achieve by a Bil...
Lord Beamish | 451 c315-6 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that many local councillors do not have limits on their postage to c...
Jack Straw | 451 c346 (Link to this contribution) It is precisely that characteristic that is also the advantage of the new Committee stage of Bills. ...
Pete Wishart | 451 c328 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for giving way once again. I support her in her efforts to refo...
Notes
Daily part printing error - division (223 to 172) should be (323 to 172).
Subjects
Debates Legislative process House of Commons Public bills Members Parliamentary procedure Parliamentary scrutiny Public participation Modernisation Reform Select committees Allocation of time motions European standing committees Standing committees Sub judice rule Standing orders Time limits on speeches
Link
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