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Adjournment debate and Backbench debate on Thursday, 3 February 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Caroline Lucas. The answering member was David Heath.

Parliamentary Reform

Nineteenth backbench debate (first half). Agreed to on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
522 c339-88WH 
Session
2010-12
Department
Leader of the House of Commons
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
PARLIAMENTARY MODERNISATION AND REFORM
Monday, 31 January 2011
Early day motions
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Peter Soulsby | 522 c386-8WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Benton. It is a pleasure to reply to this debate on behalf of the Procedure Committee....
Chris Bryant | 522 c380WH (Link to this contribution) By convention, constitutional Bills are dealt with entirely on the Floor of the House. In practice, ...
Show all contributions (127)
Hilary Benn | 522 c380-1WH (Link to this contribution) That would be one way of addressing some of the pressures that we have been discussing. I shall retu...
David Heath | 522 c381-3WH (Link to this contribution) It has been a great pleasure to listen to this debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Bright...
Peter Bone | 522 c383WH (Link to this contribution) We are very lucky today to have the presence of three outstanding parliamentarians—the Leader of the...
David Heath | 522 c383-4WH (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are committed to bringing forward a full business of the House commi...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c384WH (Link to this contribution) I refresh the Deputy Leader of the House's mind that there was one occasion when the England footbal...
David Heath | 522 c384-5WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, sometimes. Congestion is a problem—perhaps we should have a congestion charge in the Lobbies. ...
Ann Coffey | 522 c385WH (Link to this contribution) Will the Deputy Leader of the House give way?
Ann Coffey | 522 c385WH (Link to this contribution) Part of the issue is that it is only business managers who can put motions before the House. Is the ...
David Heath | 522 c385-6WH (Link to this contribution) We have a new procedure that involves the Backbench Business Committee, which is why we are having t...
Peter Bone | 522 c378WH (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has made an interesting point. On transparency—he was discussing votes—does...
Lord Johnson of Marylebone | 522 c377WH (Link to this contribution) It has some fine depictions of the fates of those who are not sufficiently respectful of others in t...
Hilary Benn | 522 c377-8WH (Link to this contribution) I join other hon. Members in congratulating the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) ...
Lord Johnson of Marylebone | 522 c377WH (Link to this contribution) That is as may be, but institutionalised prayer and congregational worship have fallen out of practi...
Peter Bone | 522 c376WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a hopeless point, but in a very good way. Is it not correct that, in a rece...
Hilary Benn | 522 c379-80WH (Link to this contribution) I agree completely. The neatness to the solution of having private Members' Bills on Tuesday or Wedn...
Hilary Benn | 522 c378-9WH (Link to this contribution) From a sedentary position, my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) suggests how it coul...
Joan Ruddock | 522 c379WH (Link to this contribution) I ask my right hon. Friend to confirm that when we sat three hours earlier on Tuesdays, it was possi...
Baroness Curran | 522 c372-3WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing the debate. I was...
Thomas Docherty | 522 c373WH (Link to this contribution) Perhaps my hon. Friend will wait for the outcome of the Administration Committee's forthcoming repor...
Baroness Curran | 522 c373-4WH (Link to this contribution) I look forward to that, and I hope that things improve. I wish to make some more substantial points ...
Sarah Wollaston | 522 c374-6WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas)—who is, of course, much bette...
Michael Meacher | 522 c369-71WH (Link to this contribution) That is a fair point, and I entirely agree. I do not have time to suggest ways of dealing with all t...
Martin Vickers | 522 c371-2WH (Link to this contribution) I join in the congratulations to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c376WH (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the solution to the problem is to ensure that all sitting Members of ...
Sarah Wollaston | 522 c376WH (Link to this contribution) What a marvellous idea! Obviously, I say that open primaries are a good idea, and they have an impor...
Lord Johnson of Marylebone | 522 c376WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Benton. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on secu...
Michael Meacher | 522 c369WH (Link to this contribution) I realise that many people wish to speak, but I shall give way very briefly.
Chris Bryant | 522 c369WH (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Michael Meacher | 522 c368-9WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) on securing this important de...
David Nuttall | 522 c368WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. As my vicar reminds us every Sunday morning, Parli...
Chris Bryant | 522 c369WH (Link to this contribution) When a knife or a guillotine come in, the Government Whips are happy for amendments to be talked out...
Baroness Curran | 522 c365WH (Link to this contribution) If I am called to speak, I will make reference to my experience in the Scottish Parliament. May I dr...
Chris Bryant | 522 c367WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. In fact, I would make it standard for all Committees to take evidence o...
David Nuttall | 522 c366-7WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Benton. I will take careful note of what you have said and restrict my comments by not...
Speaker | 522 c366WH (Link to this contribution) Before I call the next speaker, may I point out that the proceedings will now finish at 5.45 pm? I p...
Mike Weir | 522 c366WH (Link to this contribution) I was just coming to that point. The hon. Lady is correct. The whole point about the petitions proce...
Lord Hart of Tenby | 522 c361-2WH (Link to this contribution) On the basis that the First Minister was sitting at the front and everybody was behind him, I suppos...
Sarah Wollaston | 522 c361WH (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend accept the word ““pantomime”” instead of ““theatre””?
Lord Hart of Tenby | 522 c362WH (Link to this contribution) I would be delighted to give way, as always. Sitting suspended for a Division in the House. On res...
Chris Bryant | 522 c362WH (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mike Weir | 522 c363-5WH (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to speak under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Benton. I congratulate the hon. Mem...
Lord Hart of Tenby | 522 c362-3WH (Link to this contribution) All that activity for the Division probably reinforces the argument that the hon. Member for Brighto...
Ann Coffey | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) May I make a quick suggestion? One way that Select Committees could engage Back-Bench Members more w...
Natascha Engel | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I would throw all these ideas into the pot. I simply repeat that Select Committees are t...
Lord Hart of Tenby | 522 c359-61WH (Link to this contribution) I join the many speakers who have congratulated the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Luc...
Natascha Engel | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. The Backbench Business Committee is a perfect case in point. We receive oral evidence fr...
Cathy Jamieson | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, especially as I know that she wants to speed up and ...
Natascha Engel | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) I disagree and I will develop my point very briefly, because I have already spoken for my 10 minutes...
Baroness Coffey | 522 c359WH (Link to this contribution) Is that not the role of the all-party groups? Although I respect their lordships in the other place ...
Natascha Engel | 522 c358WH (Link to this contribution) I look forward to taking part in that debate. In fact, that brings me to the end of my general point...
Peter Bone | 522 c358WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Lady on making a very powerful speech. I want to bring to the attention of t...
Natascha Engel | 522 c358WH (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman has frequently done.
Natascha Engel | 522 c358WH (Link to this contribution) I agree. Sometimes, however, we are in slight danger of overplaying the idea that Whips infantilise ...
Fiona Mactaggart | 522 c357-8WH (Link to this contribution) One thing that the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) did not speak about—unsurpris...
Natascha Engel | 522 c357WH (Link to this contribution) Yes. I would not like to say that we should never go back to our constituencies, but the hon. Gentle...
Chris Bryant | 522 c357WH (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my hon. Friend would consider an idea that was suggested earlier, which is having S...
Natascha Engel | 522 c356WH (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Benton. I am not going to read out a spe...
James Gray | 522 c357WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making an extremely good point. Does she agree that there is a direct correlation b...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c355WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to disappoint my hon. Friend, but the public are beginning to notice and believe that Mem...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c355-6WH (Link to this contribution) I am very interested in the question of access, but do not want to go too far into it now. I am happ...
Jo Swinson | 522 c355WH (Link to this contribution) On tourists, does the right hon. Gentleman accept that it is difficult for most members of the publi...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c355WH (Link to this contribution) Is my right hon. Friend suggesting that many of the people who follow me on Twitter and who follow b...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c353-5WH (Link to this contribution) I take that point, but the hon. Lady possibly overestimates the skills of Members when they are sudd...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c353WH (Link to this contribution) We have discussed that extensively with the Clerks, who have pointed out that it is perfectly possib...
Chris Bryant | 522 c349WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has unanimous support.
Caroline Lucas | 522 c349-50WH (Link to this contribution) I shall proceed while I am on a roll. Another issue, albeit small, is the adoption of more accessibl...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c350-1WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) for sparking this debate, which is o...
Tessa Munt | 522 c351WH (Link to this contribution) I do not think that anyone thinks that, bearing in mind that the right hon. Gentleman has accepted t...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c351WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is in danger of stealing my thunder, because I was about to say that I regard myself ...
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c351-2WH (Link to this contribution) I am going to be slightly meaner in my disposition towards interventions, otherwise, I shall never g...
Chris Bryant | 522 c352WH (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Haselhurst | 522 c352-3WH (Link to this contribution) I want to press on, because many hon. Members want to speak. A lot of change has taken place in my ...
Lord Hanson of Flint | 522 c349WH (Link to this contribution) I support the hon. Lady. Such a reform would also help with the House's family friendly policies. I ...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c347WH (Link to this contribution) Although the hours that MPs might keep are important, and although the technical means by which they...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c347-8WH (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman that there more fundamental matters to do with the power ...
Mark Williams | 522 c347WH (Link to this contribution) I plead guilty; I was one of the four who did precisely that—to go through both Lobbies. We were una...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c347WH (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman.
Caroline Lucas | 522 c348-9WH (Link to this contribution) I completely agree, and I look forward to having another debate on exactly that subject. Let me rais...
Joan Ruddock | 522 c349WH (Link to this contribution) I support the hon. Lady. One of the easy things that we could do is make the Tuesday sitting compare...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 522 c348WH (Link to this contribution) I echo what the hon. Lady says about explanatory notes. More often than not, Members have no idea wh...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c340WH (Link to this contribution) The issue that the hon. Gentleman pinpoints is important. The perspective of family friendliness dep...
Lord Brennan of Canton | 522 c340WH (Link to this contribution) I have read the hon. Lady's paper; it contains some interesting and good proposals. Past reforms cov...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c339-40WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to hold this debate under your chairmanship, Mr Benton, and I thank you for your gu...
Speaker | 522 c339WH (Link to this contribution) A lot of people have requested to speak and we want to allow as many as possible to do so. I appeal ...
Speaker | 522 c342WH (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind right hon. and hon. Members that interventions must be kept as terse as possible. An...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c342WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett) for his inter...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c341WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's intervention indicates that changing the sitting hours alone is not enough. We ...
Greg Mulholland | 522 c341WH (Link to this contribution) I praise the hon. Lady for securing this debate, and for her reforming zeal. I agree with her on mat...
Joan Ruddock | 522 c341WH (Link to this contribution) There is also the consideration of people's mental and physical health, and their general sense of w...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c341WH (Link to this contribution) I do not think that family friendliness is a myth. The way this House works ought, where possible, t...
Lord Blunkett | 522 c341-2WH (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the hon. Lady because I will not be here for the whole debate. As well as an interest...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c341WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Lady for her intervention. It points to the fact that one of the things that ...
Peter Bone | 522 c343-4WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a powerful speech, but is she really saying that we should press a button to...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c343WH (Link to this contribution) As a fellow inhabitant of Norman Shaw North, I share the hon. Lady's pain. At least it gives us a bi...
David Nuttall | 522 c342WH (Link to this contribution) With great respect to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), the Procedure Committee ...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c342WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, which was incredibly helpful.
Jo Swinson | 522 c342WH (Link to this contribution) I, too, apologise, because I will be going to a conference later. It is about political engagement, ...
Sarah Wollaston | 522 c343WH (Link to this contribution) We also waste a great deal of time—certainly I do—running from the chilly outer reaches of Norman Sh...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c343WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that clarification. Let me say a little about some of the specific p...
Peter Soulsby | 522 c343WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. May I take this opportunity to apologise for th...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c343WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. Having been at the seminar, which was very useful, ...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c345WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I passingly considered how radical it might be to p...
Andrew Turner | 522 c345WH (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady explain why it would be better to have people sitting in specific places?
Caroline Lucas | 522 c345-6WH (Link to this contribution) One reason is that it would make electronic voting an awful lot easier. Another is that it would mak...
Lord Johnson of Marylebone | 522 c346WH (Link to this contribution) That advantage belongs only to Members of the governing party; it is not shared by MPs from Oppositi...
Fiona Mactaggart | 522 c347WH (Link to this contribution) A point of order was raised in the Chamber today about that precise point. Members were reminded tha...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c347WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. What she says reiterates the fact that we need a formal...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c344WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for making that point. The Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the F...
Mark Williams | 522 c344WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one of the good practices in the Welsh Assembly is having a block voti...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c344WH (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman raised that point because I have another proposal, which I wi...
Lord Johnson of Marylebone | 522 c344WH (Link to this contribution) Parliamentary democracy has not been destroyed in a large number of other parliamentary democracies ...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c344WH (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree. It would allow us to organise our business and our timetables much more effectiv...
Ann Coffey | 522 c344-5WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady asked what happened in days gone by. Perhaps I can try to answer that. One of the prop...
Speaker | 522 c345WH (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Lady continues, may I point out that she is about 18 minutes into her speech,...
Greg Mulholland | 522 c345WH (Link to this contribution) I share the hon. Lady's desire to speed up voting; I was using electronic voting when a member of Le...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c345WH (Link to this contribution) It is probably out of order for me to reflect upon that, Mr Benton, but I would argue that one way t...
Lord Brennan of Canton | 522 c340-1WH (Link to this contribution) I will not intervene again after this remark. However, on some occasions, it was extremely difficult...
Caroline Lucas | 522 c346-7WH (Link to this contribution) The Government are by definition the majority. It struck me that, when trying to get measures passed...
Speaker | 522 c376WH (Link to this contribution) Order. I will call one more speaker, but there are only a couple of minutes left before the start of...
Natascha Engel | 522 c357WH (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. To widen that point, I want to see Westminster Hall being used as a more experimental Ch...
Kate Green | 522 c351WH (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that our absolute purpose, as the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavi...
Subjects
Accountability Debates House of Commons Electronic voting Electronic equipment Private members' bills Members Parliamentary scrutiny Parliament Parliamentary session Working hours Reform Religious practice Resignations Divisions Times of sittings
Link
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