Repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

It is not for me to speak for the Liberal Democrats—unfortunately they seem to be absent from the...

Is the logical extension of the hon. Gentleman’s argument that President Obama should be given th...

The whole point is that the American system is completely different from ours, so it would be unw...

I agree with much of what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but I think his comment about the former ...

I take back that cheap shot against Tony Blair—it was perhaps unnecessary—and I entirely agree wi...

When President Nixon and Spiro Agnew resigned, the United States ended up with a President and Vi...

Exactly; that is a very fair point.

Our own beloved Mark Darcy, a BBC journalist who is rea...

I am following the hon. Gentleman’s argument carefully. Does he agree that, for the purposes of c...

In my personal view, that is a fair point. The right hon. Gentleman has intervened at a good poin...

Is my hon. Friend saying not only that he is against fixed-term Parliaments but that the flexibil...

No, I am not saying that. I think we should simply go back to the old system and the Prime Minist...

Three years—

Sorry, three years and 10 months. So if we stick with this Act, in the next century we could lose...

That points exactly to the other argument on this issue. Had the former Prime Minister gone to th...

That is the other side of the coin, which is why the Liberal party, which always delights in its ...

Is it not entirely unfair to criticise the Liberal Democrats when they are not here to defend the...

That is a good point. [Interruption.] Why be fair in politics anyway—they are not.

This con...

My hon. Friend is doing jolly well and I love the things that he is saying, but before he moves o...

This was the subject of a very good debate among experts in the Hansard Society. They pointed out...

I think my hon. Friend is factually incorrect when he says that we will not have a Government. We...

Yes, that is true, but we all know—my right hon. Friend has been a Minister as have I—that the mo...

Will my hon. Friend be good enough to give way?

For the second time.

Yes, indeed. With respect to the role of the civil service—of Lord Gus O’Donnell specifically—in ...

I did not know about that, but my hon. Friend raises a good point, and I am very worried about it...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but the an...

I appreciate the eloquence and humour with which the hon. Gentleman has made his point, but it is...

I am coming to an end. I have put it several times to our beloved Prime Minister that we should e...

rose—

I was about to end, but I will give way one last time.

Will my hon. Friend pray in aid the example of Ukraine, which has parliamentary elections this we...

Indeed, and dangerous situations can often be the result of fixed-terms.

We could see, as a...

I am delighted that we can now come on to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 debate, and I am pl...

I share some of the hon. Gentleman’s concern at the lamentable way in which Parliament fails to h...

Sadly, one cannot always bring about democratic change through a rational process; it is often a ...

rose—

I will give way first to my distinguished colleague from the Political and Constitutional Reform ...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the argument is essentially between those who believe in rigi...

The hon. Gentleman is known for being a rather floppy and flexible individual, and perhaps I am r...

The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech, as usual. He is right to say that this is a restr...

I am not saying that it is the fixed term that has helped create a lively Parliament; it is Membe...

I share the hon. Gentleman’s concern about the power of the Executive. Does he agree that the con...

The hon. Gentleman, who speaks from the Liberal Democrat Benches, would have been terribly blackg...

I caution against being too obsessed with the American system, because it is held in very low reg...

We should of course be very careful about taking the American example lock, stock and barrel, alt...

rose—

I give way to my very distinguished Select Committee colleague.

I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman could assist me by explaining what would happen if, for insta...

The hon. Gentleman has made a powerful case. In fact, he has unwittingly made a powerful case for...

May I repeat the point made by the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan)? We are not going...

I believe that—particularly if there is a little less game-playing and a little more consensus-bu...

I do not entirely disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s remarks about uncertainty in regard to elect...

The benefit of our having a final year and knowing it is a final year is that we can plan for how...

Did the hon. Gentleman’s Committee take evidence from Lord Norton of Louth? If so, can he remembe...

I am afraid that I cannot remember, but Lord Norton of Louth—who is a very distinguished Member o...

First, there was no pre-legislative scrutiny, as far as I know, of the Fixed-term Parliaments Bil...

It is hard to pick the substance out of that intervention, but I will do my best. This is the fir...

I agree with everything my hon. Friend says about the benefits of Select Committees, pre-legislat...

We do not contrive a system for each result—we have to do it on the basis of principle. The princ...

This is an important debate and I welcome the fact that my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsboroug...

Obviously, we have had fixed-term Parliaments for a long time; it is just that the Prime Minister...

Actually, the power to call a general election is a poisoned chalice for a Prime Minister: if the...

The hon. Gentleman is making a thoughtful speech. He has spoken of the poisoned chalice, but what...

I am perfectly sure that, in normal politics, some incumbents have a slight advantage. Clearly, b...

I thank my hon. Friend for his previous answer. He said the effective test of whether the Prime M...

There is an element of truth in that, but to go back to my earlier point, if a Prime Minister dis...

rose—

I will give way for the last time.

I am sure that my hon. Friend agrees that a key priority of this Parliament has been to sort out ...

One thing on which I disagree with my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough, who introduced the...

I support the proposal to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. I congratulate the hon. Mem...

The hon. Gentleman is making the case for shorter Parliaments. The question is who should make th...

There could be a combination of the two. That happens in Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealan...

Why does the hon. Gentleman believe that the Prime Minister alone should be able to make that dec...

In saying the Prime Minister, I meant the Government. It has to be a collective decision. It will...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the confirmation that it would be a party decision taken in the pa...

I think that that would be difficult to arrange. It is a political decision that is taken by the ...

Will my hon. Friend just beware and look across the Atlantic, where there are two-year terms? The...

I am arguing not for a two-year term, but for a three-year term. In any case, there is a big diff...

I opposed the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill before it was enacted at every conceivable point during...

My hon. Friend says he is concerned about what the Liberals are doing in standing in the way of t...

That is an important point, and I endorse very much what my hon. Friend has said.

The arran...

Does my hon. Friend agree that by having a maximum length—which is not the norm, as most Parliame...

As ever, my hon. Friend makes huge sense. These are simple questions. It is not an abstract, theo...

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that he is making a strong argument for the direct election of th...

I do not accept that proposition, but we do not have time to go through all the implications. I a...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the public made no mention of their desire for a fixed-term Parlia...

That is true. There was no consultation or any attempt to discuss the implications for the voters...

I realise I am craving the indulgence of the House. I would not normally seek to intervene in a d...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Equal votes in constituencies for fair representation ...

I totally agree. The whole question of House of Lords reform was also being advanced for party po...

I hate to intrude on the private grief between the coalition partners, which this debate has beco...

I am a little mystified by that intervention. If we are to make changes to our constitution, we n...

During the passage of the Act, did my hon. Friend speak or vote against the measure he now so rou...

Yes, I did. On Second Reading, those of us in the other Lobby were staggered at how few we were—t...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin): his...

Will my hon. Friend explain how the scenario he outlines would be improved by the possibility of ...

I refer to the quote of Lord Waddington, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir Wi...

I am trying to understand the logic of the argument, in which the electorate decides that no part...

That is not the argument I am putting forward. There would be a period of a year or 18 months of ...

I appreciate my hon. Friend’s generosity in giving way, but I am afraid that the logic of his arg...

As my hon. Friend the Member for Harwich and North Essex so wisely said, perish the thought that ...

With respect to the question of whether people outside know what we are doing, does he believe, a...

Order. There have to be short interventions. Sir William, you have already had a speech. We do no...

I always enjoy interventions from my hon. Friend the Member for Stone. I could not agree with him...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) and the other Members on both ...

The hon. Gentleman has just referred to the repeal of the prerogative. Does he believe that if th...

I will return to that issue, which relates directly to a point that the hon. Gentleman made. He r...

The problem the hon. Gentleman has is that I was told by a member of his party’s Front-Bench team...

The fact is that we fought an election in 2010 on a manifesto commitment to move to a fixed-term ...

Will the hon. Gentleman also acknowledge that the commitment was in the Liberal Democrat manifest...

Absolutely. I wonder whether the motion should have been worded, “That this House supports the re...

It is the pressure exerted at the point we reach a confidence motion that demonstrates what is go...

As the hon. Gentleman said in his speech, the Act retains the ability of the House to pass motion...

The hon. Gentleman is making a case for transferring the prerogative power to this House. What is...

I do not accept that. However, if the motion were to say that we should review that aspect of the...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way one more time but then I need to be able to make my argument.

I am very grateful. If the hon. Gentleman accepts that the two thirds majority could be reviewed,...

I simply do not accept that, because there is still the provision within the Act for confidence m...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I am not going to give way again.

The previous position gave the Prime Minister and the...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, as I have given way to the hon. Gentleman already.

More often in this place, we can wor...

So if Labour gets an overall majority, it will not repeal the Act and it will stay in for the ful...

Absolutely. We supported fixed-term Parliaments in our manifesto in 2010, and our policy remains ...

We have had some great contributions from both sides of the House. There were seven Back-Bench sp...

In my hon. Friend’s historical survey, has he noticed that the reason why the Triennial and Septe...

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. There were, of course, many other times when Parliament has...

I have a mild disagreement with my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash). I think i...

I thank my hon. Friend for that excellent intervention. Parliament has had this debate several ti...

I do not agree with the Minister on that last point. Our country has faced far greater dangers th...

I was incredibly nervous when our country was on the brink of financial and economic collapse aft...

If fixed-term Parliaments were such a good idea, why did we not put them in our manifesto?

There are many good ideas that were not in our manifesto; it is important that we, as politicians...

The Minister means “the right hon. Gentleman”.

I meant to say “the right hon. Gentleman”. I stand corrected.

By setting out the general el...

The Minister is making a thoughtful and cogent speech. Now that we have a fixed-term Parliament a...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the convention in this country is that a Parliament cannot bind futu...

Can the Minister explain why passing a lot of laws is a good idea? Have we not got enough laws al...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that point, which comes as no surprise to me. He would agree tha...

For up to two minutes, I call Sir Edward Leigh.

2.39 pm

I am very grateful to everyone who has taken part in this thoughtful debate. I am grateful to the...