Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill

In addition to what is in the Bill, we have to discuss what is not in it: the conventions that we...

Again, my hon. Friend makes a very important point. Alongside the Bill, we have produced a brief ...

Is it not also the case that, if there were a vote in the Commons that many considered to be a co...

Exactly so, and it is absolutely important, as my right hon. Friend points out, that we stick to ...

I do not want to test everybody’s patience, but the one time when that course is not available to...

That is an important point, but it is also important to recognise that no newly elected Governmen...

I begin by saying how lovely it is to see the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, the h...

I concede the hon. Member’s point that the Act did work as far as holding the coalition together ...

I will let other parties answer for their own actions. I certainly do not seek to speak for them....

I look forward to sparring with the hon. Lady on another constitutional Bill. Just to come back t...

It is a pleasure to see the right hon. Gentleman in his place and I, too, look forward to sparrin...

Something occurs to me. Those on the Government Benches might say there was stasis for two years,...

It would not be at all like the Liberal Democrats to dig into a position and hold it. [Laughter.]...

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way, as this is such a therapeutic exercise. It is 10 years of h...

If it does not work out in politics, perhaps I have a career as a therapist.

I find it rema...

The hon. Lady asks who power is being transferred to but, as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanca...

The hon. Gentleman is right to say this is about power and where power lies. Where we probably di...

If I may, I will make a little progress. I am conscious of time.

I want to say a few words ...

I just want to probe the hon. Lady’s point about when to hold elections. Is she saying that there...

Of course, in most circumstances an Opposition will want to have an election. If the right hon. G...

Might there not be a point where the Opposition just wanted to form a Government, because the Gov...

I find it difficult to disagree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, the points that he has made, not jus...

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady, but that argument is somewhat of a straw house of an argum...

I suppose the difference is that when there is a five-year Parliament and all the parties know wh...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I would like to make a bit more progress.

I put on the record my thanks to Professor Meg Ru...

I welcome the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich...

In your view.

Of course, this is all my view. The House will have a chance to listen to the utterances of the h...

May I, too, say how pleased we are to see the hon. Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) back in...

Surely we are just reinstating the status quo before 2010.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. No, we are not doing that, and I will come...

In this House and indeed in this Administration, there is a distinction between the role of Direc...

That is another piece of absolute obfuscation by the Minister—a ridiculous piece of obfuscation—s...

This is more of a clarification point. If the Lascelles principles are in place and the Governmen...

As I understand it, and reading what Professor Elliott says, the Lascelles principles would go an...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for being so patient with me on this, but on reading the Bill, I do no...

I think the fact that the principles are not there suggests that they will not be there. I unders...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way because this is perhaps where we see the signi...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that intervention, and I absolutely agree. What is happening...

That would never happen to the SNP.

The right hon. Gentleman shouts from a sedentary position that that would never happen to the SNP...

Presumably in that case, as with the OECD report on Scottish education, the SNP would just not pu...

The Scottish Government will stand by and have stood by their record, and have been accountable o...

rose—

I will come to the right hon. Gentleman in a moment, but I will take your advice, Madam Deputy Sp...

rose—

I will give way if it is on that point.

It is very much on that point. That case was brought by the hon. Gentleman’s hon. and learned Fri...

In the name of the wee man. Madam Deputy Speaker, I attempt not to waste your time or this House’...

First, may I put on the record how much I welcome the Bill? Indeed, having served on the Joint Co...

To emphasise the point that my right hon. Friend has just made, the truth is not that a monarch w...

That is right. I am a big subscriber to the view that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The situat...

May I first say what an utter delight it is to see the hon. Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith...

The hon. Gentleman is making a strong case that it should not be a question of the Government aga...

Well, my point is simply that we need to have a level playing field in any general election. The ...

The hon. Gentleman is extremely kind in giving way a second time. I do not think he answered my p...

If there is a fixed date for a general election, there are fewer options for the Government to ma...

I was being enigmatic.

The hon. Gentleman is the Mona Lisa in so many ways. I do not know what to make of that. My point...

I hesitate to intervene, but the record should show that the particular motion to which the hon. ...

I think I am right in saying that the original motion tabled by the Government did commit, but th...

indicated dissent.

Well, the record will have to be found, won’t it. I completely agree with the comments made by th...

As a Welsh MP, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would agree that one benefit of a fixed-term Par...

My personal view for some time has been that it is probably for the convenience of the people to ...

It is a real privilege to follow the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). I want to expand on ...

I am sorry to do this, but I just want to push back against the words “game playing”. There were ...

I accept the hon. Gentleman’s intervention about the choice of language, and I will change it. Hi...

The hon. Gentleman touches on points that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) raised at th...

Parliament failed, and it failed day in and day out, week in and week out. It does not matter, to...

You voted for it.

The hon. Gentleman is quite right: I did indeed vote for that Bill. I think what has been slightl...

Some people might feel that this place can be a tad old fashioned, but the Bill makes the system ...

I want to put on the record what an honour it was to be part of the Joint Committee on the Fixed-...

I am delighted to have the opportunity to make a contribution to the debate. I am sorry that the ...

I agree with the point that the right hon. Gentleman agree has just made. He will recall that, ju...

I often say that the spending decisions that were taken—although, when they were implemented, the...

I am sorry to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman, but the last line of clause 2(1) reads

“a...

The point is that, as I said, it was a necessary modernisation; we are undoing something that, 10...

I am sorry to inform the hon. Gentleman that I still was not born in 1983. If we do not know when...

Let me just say that the pattern of campaigning across the constituencies represented in this Hou...

The truth of the matter is that our constitution does behave in a very dignified way. We know tha...

No, we cannot. That is the self-evident answer to that question. I am fairly confident that conve...

We now have nine more speakers, which means that, allowing for the wind-ups, we need speeches to ...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I can assure you that I will take much less than 10 minutes. In ...

I am listening to the hon. Member intently. Was the problem between 2017 and 2019 not precisely t...

I thank the hon. Member for his contribution, but I would say that it was actually the opposite. ...

The hon. Member is being kind and indulgent of me in giving way. The simple fact is that the reas...

I am afraid I beg to differ. For me and for many people I know, the instability was because the G...

I am sorry that I was not there to see the 1974 election. We talk a lot in this place about the p...

I am conscious that I am running out of time. I accept that it has not always been abused. If we ...

I join colleagues from across the House in warmly welcoming my hon. Friend the Minister back to h...

May I say, as others have said, what a pleasure and joy it is to see the Minister for the Constit...

I join colleagues on both sides of the House in welcoming the Minister for the Constitution and D...

It is a great pleasure to take part in this debate and join many other right hon. and hon. Friend...

I am pleased to be able to participate in this important debate. I begin by congratulating my rig...

It is a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir Davi...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the principle ought to be that the electoral timetable should be f...

I could not put it any better than that; my hon. Friend is absolutely correct. I understand the d...

It is always a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell)...

My hon. Friend is articulating this very well. Again, it comes back to the fact that one of the b...

I was worried that my hon. Friend was going to tell me that I was wrong, but that was a delightfu...

It is always a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall), and ev...

With the leave of the House, I shall make some closing remarks on behalf of the Opposition. As th...

Minister, we have already had many messages from within the Chamber welcoming you back to the pla...

Thank you very much indeed, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I thank all the very many friends across the H...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I do not have a great deal of time, but I will give way briefly.

On this point of certainty, surely all parties are entitled to certainty about the date on which ...

I am extremely glad that the right hon. Gentleman has made that point. I was going to address it ...

I am anticipating a Division, so could Members please follow covid regulations as they go to vote...