Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill (Joint Committee)

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of Mr Christopher Chope and others.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)]

Let me reassure the hon. Lady that I am not an anarchist, although I serve on the Committee, and that, actually, we follow my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker) very carefully.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. May I just say that the first part of the hon. Gentleman’s intervention was demonstrably superfluous?

[Ms Eagle]

I had never quite imagined that the hon. Gentleman would fall into the anarchist persuasion, but I am glad he has reassured the House that that is not the case.

It may be advisable for me to return to the subject of the amendment. I believe that it would be wrong for us to adopt a different method for selecting members of the Joint Committee on an ad hoc basis before we have had an opportunity to see what the Procedure Committee might wish the House to consider, and, once its work has been done, to see more details of that work and of the evidence that it wishes to gather. I think that the amendment is premature, and I ask the House to vote against it.