Fixed-term Parliaments Bill

Baroness Primarolo Excerpts

Wednesday 1st December 2010 Commons Chamber

Question again proposed, That the amendment be made.

[The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Dawn Primarolo)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 22, page 2, line 12, leave out ‘14’ and insert ‘ten working’.

Amendment 36, page 2, line 14, at end insert—

‘(2A) In reckoning for the purposes of subsection 2(b), no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is prorogued or during which the House of Commons is adjourned for more than four days.’.

Amendment 37, page 2, line 14, at end insert—

‘(2B) Where the House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government, the Prime Minister shall tender his resignation to Her Majesty within a period of seven days of the motion being passed.

(2C) On tendering his resignation under subsection (2B), it shall be a duty on the Prime Minister to advise Her Majesty to appoint as his successor the person who appears to him most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons.’.

Amendment 25, page 2, line 24, at end add—

‘(6A) In this section a “motion of no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government” shall be—

(a) in the terms “This House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government” or

(b) in the terms “This House has no confidence in the Prime Minister”.’.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Shepherd]

I should like to press amendment 5 to a vote, with the consent of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash).

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

The question is, that the amendment be made.

[Hon. Members]

Aye.

[Hon. Members]

No.

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

I think the Noes have it.

[Mr Shepherd]

We wanted to press the amendment to a Division, Ms Primarolo.

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

I need to hear you pressing the amendment, Mr Shepherd. I need you to shout louder for me. I am happy to do it again, but I need to hear the vote.

Question put, That the amendment be made.

--- Later in debate ---

13:17

Division 136

Ayes: 6

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Conservative: 5
Labour: 1

Noes: 498

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Conservative: 244
Labour: 193
Liberal Democrat: 45
Democratic Unionist Party: 6
Plaid Cymru: 3
Scottish National Party: 3
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2
Independent: 2
Alliance: 1
Green Party: 1

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

When, after voting, Members remain in the Lobby behind the Speaker’s Chair, they need to be quiet; otherwise it is impossible to hear the vote in the Chamber.

Amendment proposed: 36, page 2, line 14, at end insert—

‘(2A) In reckoning for the purposes of subsection 2(b), no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is prorogued or during which the House of Commons is adjourned for more than four days.’.—(Sir Peter Soulsby.)

Question put, That the amendment be made.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Jenkin]

I beg to move amendment 6, page 2, line 15, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

‘(3) Any certificate of the Speaker of the House of Commons given under this section shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall not be presented to or questioned in any court of law whatsoever.’.

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 23, page 2, line 17, at end insert—

‘(4A) The Speaker shall issue a certificate under subsection (1) or (2) within 24 hours of the relevant conditions being met under subsection (1) or (2).’.

[Mr Jenkin]

Amendment 6 stands in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash), who, as I mentioned earlier, is abroad on other House business as Chair of the European Scrutiny Committee.

We are at a curious juncture in the Bill and, indeed, in our constitutional history. The background to the amendment is the tension, since time immemorial, between this House’s ability to function immune from judicial interference, and the courts, which periodically have sought to limit the extent to which we can continue our business unimpeded by the courts. That was, of course settled—to a degree—in the Bill of Rights in 1789—