Fixed-term Parliaments Bill

That is indeed what I said because there is a difference between a fixed term, as set out principally in Clause 1, and recognising that you could have a situation, as they do in Norway, where the term is fixed and nothing can allow an early election, even if the Government were to lose the confidence of their Parliament. That is not what anyone has argued for in our deliberations. There is a distinction between a fixed term and a maximum term during which, under the present system, the Prime Minister of the day can opt to have an election at a time of his choosing for partisan advantage. We do not disguise the fact that that is what we are seeking to move away from. I return to the point that I was about to address with regard to the way in which we have structured this provision. In recognising some of the examples that the noble and learned Lord gave, we accept that no confidence motions over the years have taken many different forms and the desire of the Bill was not to restrict flexibility. It was to avoid confusion that we suggested that a Speaker’s certificate would confirm that the House of Commons had passed a no-confidence motion. I have heard and listened to the arguments. We had good debates earlier about the merits or otherwise of the Speaker’s certificate and I have clearly undertaken to reflect on whether that is the best way of doing it. That was why we felt that there was a need to have the Speaker’s certificate. Votes of no confidence historically have taken a number of different forms. The noble and learned Lord referred to those which took place against the backdrop of the Suez crisis. We have tried to allow that flexibility while at the same time having the certainty which we believe is necessary to trigger an early election because there are consequences. Having an early election in a situation where you have a fixed term requires some clarity about what will trigger it. I do not believe that we could get that clarity by allowing, as the noble and learned Lord seems to suggest, a sort of consensus to emerge in the House of Commons. It may well be that, if a particular Government had lost what might be interpreted by many to be a vote of no confidence, they could drop that consensus by saying ““Well, we did not consider it as a vote of no confidence””. That is why I do not believe what I thought the noble and learned Lord was suggesting—that we will recognise votes of no confidence when we see them and that there will be a general consensus in the House of Commons that there was one and that there will be an election. If we are in a situation where we have a framework of a fixed-term Parliament and we are envisaging a situation where there could be an early election, it is important that it is very clear what will constitute the trigger mechanism for that early election. Simply leaving it to a consensus is not sufficient in these circumstances.