Proceedings during the Pandemic

Will the right hon. Gentleman allow?

I was just about to talk about Members intervening time and again, so it is the perfect time for ...

The Leader of the House will know, because he is an historian, that one of the ancient liberties ...

Nobody is banned from attending Parliament by law. The ancient right of MPs, which dates back to ...

They are not allowed to attend.

No law exists that stops Members from attending Parliament.

rose—

I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I am extremely grateful to the Leader of the House for giving way. Yesterday, in the public proce...

Order. We might have gone back to having interventions, but that does not mean that we can have l...

The ancient right to attend Parliament goes back to 1340, and, as the hon. Member for Rhondda (Ch...

As usual, the Leader of the House is making a strong statement, but on this particular point on v...

My hon. Friend is right. Every Member does have the right to vote. Members accepted that these me...

Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that today there are low-paid clinical staff working in t...

My hon. Friend puts it extremely well. Lots of people are going back to work, and we have a role,...

Will the Leader of the House outline his intention with regard to ensuring that minority parties ...

That is not really a point for today’s debate. I completely accept what the hon. Gentleman says a...

The Leader of the House is, of course, a strong advocate of the Union. He must appreciate that at...

The temporary measures that are to be used will mean that voting takes a little bit longer than u...

The principle in this House is that votes follow voices. The Leader of the House is telling us th...

The vote following the voice is the tradition that if you shout one way, you then cannot vote the...

I will just explain this point and then of course I will give way. The votes follow the voice, in...

What we have seen from the Leader of the House’s performance today so far is the characteristic w...

There are well-established procedures for people who cannot be here being paired, so that their o...

I assure the Leader of the House that right now there are lots of voices of Scottish National par...

The hon. Gentleman says that lots of SNP Members will not be happy. I have a nasty feeling that t...

Let me provide Members with an example. Flights for us from Northern Ireland to here are restrict...

Now that we are back to normal sitting hours, we will be sitting on Monday to Thursday with the u...

rose—

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman makes another intervention, I should say that most people will n...

I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker, and this will be the last time. When the right hon. Gentlema...

I am not a prophet, so I would not dream of predicting those sorts of things.

I have taken ...

I agree with the Leader of the House about the nature of debate and response and making a decisio...

I hear mutterings around the Chamber saying that that is a good idea. Unfortunately, neither the ...

On this rather vexed issue of voting, could further consideration perhaps be given to the use of ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the points that he has made. I assure him that the Government...

I apologise for not being here right at the beginning of the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks, but ...

The Procedure Committee is currently holding an inquiry into proxy voting and whether it is suita...

Could the right hon. Gentleman therefore confirm to me that the constituents of those MPs who hav...

I think the right hon. Lady makes entirely the wrong point. Parliament meets to represent the nat...

The Leader of the House is absolutely correct on that point, but where it falls down is when Memb...

I am glad to see the hon. Gentleman in his place, and I absolutely appreciate that it is harder f...

Does the Leader of the House accept that we should be an exemplar of best practice, and when we a...

I have obviously looked at the equalities considerations in relation to this, and the Government ...

To introduce another subject, does the Leader of the House have a view about call lists during st...

I think the system of catching Mr Speaker’s eye is a preferable system, but needs must, because w...

The Leader of the House just said that this was a temporary expedient, and that is absolutely rig...

The problem is that we are not doing our full job. We are doing an important part of our job in d...

The Leader of the House has a very high Stuart understanding of what Parliament is here to do, wh...

Order. Just before the Lord President answers the intervention, I am also concerned about the rig...

Sometimes the hon. Member for Rhondda makes the point for me more eloquently than I could have ma...

Has the Lord President done an estimation of the number of additional Members who will be kept aw...

Well, the answer to that is: look around—if you seek a monument, look around. We are sitting six ...

rose—

How can I refuse the leader of the Welsh nationalists?

The Leader of the House said earlier that witnesses giving evidence to the Domestic Abuse Bill Co...

The House authorities have made possible virtual participation in the Bill Committee’s proceeding...

Have you ever been to Alton Towers?

Indeed I have—I took my sister Annunziata there many years ago. [Interruption.] Anyway, enough of...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I know that it is unparliamentary for someone to filib...

Order. I thank the hon. Gentleman, but I do not need his point of order. I have been trying to mo...

The interventions prove my point: we need interventions to make Parliament work properly. We need...

I call the shadow Leader of the House, Valerie Vaz. I trust that Members will not unnecessarily m...

I thank the Leader of the House for moving the motion. I note that the amendments in my name and ...

I have to impose a time limit now of five minutes, but that will be reduced. I call the mover of ...

I should start by declaring an interest as the Member of Parliament for Alton Towers. I am deligh...

On the way to Oblivion.

Oblivion and Nemesis.

I will address amendments (b) to (d), tabled in my name and those of ...

Is it not a double injustice that the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) is not only to...

The hon. Gentleman makes exactly the point that my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow made t...

My party is minded to support amendment (d), which the right hon. Lady has tabled on behalf of he...

I understand exactly the points the hon. Gentleman makes. He will know that in the past I had per...

Before I call Mr Blackford, I should warn hon. Members that the time limit after Mr Blackford wil...

It is a pleasure to be called in this debate and to follow the right hon. Member for Staffordshir...

Eighteen.

Eighteen hours for the right hon. Gentleman. Is the Leader of the House really suggesting that pa...

I am not going to spend 30 hours a week travelling. Not only is it logistically challenging, but ...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The issue of safety is of paramou...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the Government get away with this today, we will be left ...

Absolutely. I agree with my hon. and learned Friend. I say to the Government that there are real ...

If this is serious, would the right hon. Gentleman like to give way?

No, I will not. You have lost your right to do that.

The proposal for voting is ludicrous a...

Order. I can answer the right hon. Gentleman. Mr Speaker has taken care of that.

Well—[Interruption.] I can hear Members saying “Move on.” Really? I have to say that I find the a...

Order. I implore the right hon. Gentleman to talk about this Chamber, because we have little time...

I am afraid I am going to take my time to ensure that I am putting the case of Members of the Sco...

I begin by expressing my embarrassment on your behalf, Madam Deputy Speaker, that all your entrea...

I speak as a traditionalist. I am a Whip. My right hon. Friends the Members for Newcastle upon Ty...

I thank the vice-Chair for giving way; it is very generous of him. May I also make the point not ...

I quite agree with the right hon. Lady. One Committee that is going to the Programme Sub-Committe...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore). I entirely agree with the G...

I apologise for intervening again, but my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christophe...

Yes, I understand my right hon. Friend’s point, and I was going to go on to say that, although I ...

Any right hon. or hon. Member who was in this House during our lengthy debates on our membership ...

I have a great deal of support for the view of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House that ...

The Leader of the House, in introducing the debate, suggested that we should deal in some facts, ...

Listening to the debate, I have to say that I have a new-found affection for the virtues of brevi...

Some of the most respected Members of this House have been silenced by their inability to be here...

Order. That concludes the debate and I am required to put the Question, but I have a short statem...

I am about to put the Question, That amendment (d) be made. My expectation is that this will give...