The House of Commons continues to discuss the coalition government policy and programmes announced in the Queens speech to Parliament and the debates are also providing the opportunity for new members, some two hundred and fifty, to make their first speech in the chamber.
These follow a pattern which the retiring members, and the older members, attempt to control. On Monday twenty two new members spoke on a day when the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg covered Constitutional matters, and the Home Secretary, Theresa May, covered Home Affairs. Each new Member was allocated seven minutes. While the majority followed the set structure and content, several attempted to change the order in which they thanked the people who had voted for them and promised to listen and represent their views and the views of everyone else. This is clearly impossible to do in practice and against human nature.
What the Member is actually saying is that they will take up matters where there are indications of injustice at home or abroad or there is a failure of service, after the individual or individual family has followed the procedure for taking up the matters directly with those responsible. It is understandable that the Member, and whoever undertakes constituency work for the Member if they hold a position in Government or on the opposition front benches. I estimate that over a third of the membership of the House of Commons are engaged directly in government, around 100 or in opposition 150 given that all the representatives of the minority parties will, undertake more than one subject interest and become the lead speaker in debates, in committee and asking questions. While the Member of Parliament will hold surgeries where they will meet individual constituents, the issues are usually followed up their staff and this is where the Minister’s or Shadow Minister’s Parliamentary Private secretary will have an important role in following through referrals which require the attention of other Ministers and their departments. There was reference to one or two outstanding cases which have received national media attention during yesterday’s session which commenced at 3.30 after the conclusion of questions and ended at 10pm when the House divided and the Coalition had a majority of close to 100 350 votes to 250. Thus revealing the reality of the ability of the coalition to get its business agreed throughout the Commons and why there is the threat to create a sufficient number of new members to ensure the second chamber reflects the democratic vote.
The second constituency function of individual Members of the Commons is to raise issues which affect their communities in general, usually maters affecting employment opportunities, the replace of an old hospital or school with a new building, or some, often long standing issue, such as in Northumberland the creating of a dual carriageway through the rural areas of the A1 to Edinburgh has remain an objective on the agenda of successive government but only after a large number of other priorities, including the ongoing maintenance of existing motorways is covered. One new member yesterday, I think from Suffolk mentioned his intent to gain a stretch of dual carriageway at one end of his constituency but admitted a lack of optimism in having learnt that the same intent was included in the first speech of the former Member who was first elected in 1997.
A major part of the every speech by a new Member is to mention the achievements of their predecessor. This is an easy task for many if their member held office in government or opposition front bench, or both, or had a known record of achievement as a backbencher. It is obviously more difficult to praise members who were disgraced because of the expenses scandals.
The next function of the first speech is to promote the constituency as a place to work and to visit because of its beauty and attractions. There was a good rivalry between the new members as to whether their constituency was paradise within Gods on Country, a sentiment directly expressed by the son of Lord Rees Mogg, Jacob, in relation to the west country although he was challenged by Members from areas as north Glasgow which included Loch Lomond, South Wales and Dylan Thomas country and Suffolk. Several Members also put in bids for a piece of the new environmental initiatives, including the promise of the previous government to contribute £20 million to Nissan for the development of an electric car. The Prime Minister confirmed the funds are to be released in Question time on Wednesday morning
One device to attract attention which several new Members followed was to praise their local newspapers, thus ensuring what they had to say would be reported to their constituents.
There are two other important purposes for the first speech of new Members. They try to attract the attention of their front benches and their colleagues in the House by telling jokes that are funny, by their passion, or their confidence and fluency and with the best achieving all three. The other purpose is to indicate their special knowledge or interest and which is why they choose to make their speech during one debating session rather than another. To describe the situation as a debate is a misnomer given the required format for these speeches and it is a very brave individual who decides not to make the attempt to cover the required approach. It has not to be forgotten that all but one or two members have been selected to represent political parties and will be expected to follow the agreed party line when it comes to voting and in broad terms to support or oppose the actions of the executive.
I know turn to the substantive features of the debate which was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. It is evident that there is considerable resentment on the Labour benches about his rise to power and decision to form a coalition with the Conservatives. There is also resentment and caution on the Conservative benches about the way he was able to hold the party to ransom in the negotiations which led to his appointment as second to Mr Cameron.
His main contribution was to emphasis government determination to proceed with the reform of the House of Lords given that it is nearly 100 years since any government proposed to abolish heredity peers from sitting in the chamber. In order to expedite, a committee has been formed agree on a model to be presented as a draft legislation to Parliament and to the people of Britain. This will comprise the political managers from the three Parties which included the abolition and replacement in their election manifestoes, and therefore exclude the nationalist parties for Ireland, Wales and Scotland who were incensed especially at being presented with a fait accompli. There are those who would like to see the House of Lords remain in its present form without the executive being able to take full control and therefore limit further its power to revise legislation and keep the executive under scrutiny
Later at 10pm with around 600 members still in the chamber the deputy Leader of the House introduced the orders which enabled the setting up a new standing committee of the Commons to monitor the role and the powers of the Deputy Prime Minister not covered by other Standing Committees. The role of the Cabinet office in general is already covered. The introduction and questioning lasted one hour.
The other burning issue raised by Conservative, Labour and other members was the decision to create a situation where the House of Commons cannot be dissolved and a general election without a request by 55% of the House of Commons instead of 51% as now. This is a device to ensure that in the event of Coalitions continuing, it is not possible for the majority Party to force the minority party into accepting a minor role with the threat of dissolution within the fixed Parliament term. Understandably the Labour Opposition and hard lime Conservatives do not want the Coalition to last a full Parliament because there would be a greater likelihood of the electoral changes being implement which in turn will make future coalitions more likely. I can see the government having to accept at 51% vote if following a defeat of particular legislation a vote of confidence is carried and a new government made out of a new coalition is not possible.
The other area of contention is the proposal to create a fairer distribution of votes in constituencies in a situation where there is one constituency in Scotland for an Island with a population of 20000 and another in England. The Island of Wight, which is a constituency of over 100000. This is clearly not fair. However achieving a better balance while reducing the total number of MPs will pose problems. Part of the value of the Member of Parliament is to represent a defined area with individual characteristics.
The session also covered Home Affairs and here the issue which concerned many speakers, not all female, is the plan to give anonymity to those accused of rape until the point of a conviction. The Government, with some support from members of the Commons Committee who examined the subject had responded those who felt that because of media interest, individuals subsequently found not guilty found their lives and those of their families significantly adversely affected. However critics rightly in my judgement believe that in selecting these defendants for special treatment it creates the wrong signals, making it more difficult for victims to come forward and casting doubt in the kinds of juries from the outset of any trial. Moreover it is disclosure of the name of the accused that can lead to other women coming forward although in response to an adjournment debate, the Government Minister offered to hear evidence on this point. My impression is that the government has been affected by the widespread concern from members across the Parties about this proposal and may consider some concession such as anonymity between arrest and the decision to prosecute.
There was also concern at the decision of the Coalition to bring in further controls on CCTV cameras although the emphasis is on control rather than removal of existing camera. In a situation where Britain has more cameras than anywhere else. However I do not see this as a valid argument given the widespread popularity among the public of the use of cameras to provide security and help solve crimes and find or help in, missing people. I suspect this is more cost cutting than a major issue with the electorate.
This afternoon the Government introduced the Bill to abolish Identity cards. This again is something I had no quarrel with but I also appreciated that it was part of a number of authoritarian measures which the Labour Part introduced. I accept that criminals and terrorists would find ways to bypass any new system but the idea of keeping an ongoing register of where people are and their status between the ten year census was a good one.
I also had no quarrel with the widening of the DNA database which has been instrumental in solve past as well as current crimes and similar with the biometric passport which would carry a fingerprint. My objection is to the intrusion and misuse of powers by local authorities and other bodies using the Terrorist legislation for their own purposes, and the attempt to end some trials and inquests by jury.
The last day of the Queen’s speech debates revealed that Newcastle Central has elected its first black Member of Parliament. in fact the first black Member of Parliament in Newcastle and I suspect the whole North East. Moreover although she was born in the UK, her father came from Biafra, and she moved to Nigeria when a baby but when the Biafran civil war broke out her mother brought their children back to England while he remained in the Biafran army. Chi Onwurah gained an Engineering degree from Imperial College and an MBA from Manchester Business school and has worked abroad as well as head of Telecom technology at OFCOM. Her maiden speech left several people Gob smacked and the Government Minister replying to the last debate on the Queen's speech singled her out of all the 22 new members for special praise, and hopefully not a kiss of death predicated she would quickly become a major figure for the Opposition, I also thought the brother of Boris Johnston was self deprecatingly funny but best of all the new Conservative Member of Parliament for Grantham praised the labour government for their approach to equal opportunity and rights as a Gay man! I wonder what Mrs Thatcher thinks of that!
These follow a pattern which the retiring members, and the older members, attempt to control. On Monday twenty two new members spoke on a day when the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg covered Constitutional matters, and the Home Secretary, Theresa May, covered Home Affairs. Each new Member was allocated seven minutes. While the majority followed the set structure and content, several attempted to change the order in which they thanked the people who had voted for them and promised to listen and represent their views and the views of everyone else. This is clearly impossible to do in practice and against human nature.
What the Member is actually saying is that they will take up matters where there are indications of injustice at home or abroad or there is a failure of service, after the individual or individual family has followed the procedure for taking up the matters directly with those responsible. It is understandable that the Member, and whoever undertakes constituency work for the Member if they hold a position in Government or on the opposition front benches. I estimate that over a third of the membership of the House of Commons are engaged directly in government, around 100 or in opposition 150 given that all the representatives of the minority parties will, undertake more than one subject interest and become the lead speaker in debates, in committee and asking questions. While the Member of Parliament will hold surgeries where they will meet individual constituents, the issues are usually followed up their staff and this is where the Minister’s or Shadow Minister’s Parliamentary Private secretary will have an important role in following through referrals which require the attention of other Ministers and their departments. There was reference to one or two outstanding cases which have received national media attention during yesterday’s session which commenced at 3.30 after the conclusion of questions and ended at 10pm when the House divided and the Coalition had a majority of close to 100 350 votes to 250. Thus revealing the reality of the ability of the coalition to get its business agreed throughout the Commons and why there is the threat to create a sufficient number of new members to ensure the second chamber reflects the democratic vote.
The second constituency function of individual Members of the Commons is to raise issues which affect their communities in general, usually maters affecting employment opportunities, the replace of an old hospital or school with a new building, or some, often long standing issue, such as in Northumberland the creating of a dual carriageway through the rural areas of the A1 to Edinburgh has remain an objective on the agenda of successive government but only after a large number of other priorities, including the ongoing maintenance of existing motorways is covered. One new member yesterday, I think from Suffolk mentioned his intent to gain a stretch of dual carriageway at one end of his constituency but admitted a lack of optimism in having learnt that the same intent was included in the first speech of the former Member who was first elected in 1997.
A major part of the every speech by a new Member is to mention the achievements of their predecessor. This is an easy task for many if their member held office in government or opposition front bench, or both, or had a known record of achievement as a backbencher. It is obviously more difficult to praise members who were disgraced because of the expenses scandals.
The next function of the first speech is to promote the constituency as a place to work and to visit because of its beauty and attractions. There was a good rivalry between the new members as to whether their constituency was paradise within Gods on Country, a sentiment directly expressed by the son of Lord Rees Mogg, Jacob, in relation to the west country although he was challenged by Members from areas as north Glasgow which included Loch Lomond, South Wales and Dylan Thomas country and Suffolk. Several Members also put in bids for a piece of the new environmental initiatives, including the promise of the previous government to contribute £20 million to Nissan for the development of an electric car. The Prime Minister confirmed the funds are to be released in Question time on Wednesday morning
One device to attract attention which several new Members followed was to praise their local newspapers, thus ensuring what they had to say would be reported to their constituents.
There are two other important purposes for the first speech of new Members. They try to attract the attention of their front benches and their colleagues in the House by telling jokes that are funny, by their passion, or their confidence and fluency and with the best achieving all three. The other purpose is to indicate their special knowledge or interest and which is why they choose to make their speech during one debating session rather than another. To describe the situation as a debate is a misnomer given the required format for these speeches and it is a very brave individual who decides not to make the attempt to cover the required approach. It has not to be forgotten that all but one or two members have been selected to represent political parties and will be expected to follow the agreed party line when it comes to voting and in broad terms to support or oppose the actions of the executive.
I know turn to the substantive features of the debate which was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. It is evident that there is considerable resentment on the Labour benches about his rise to power and decision to form a coalition with the Conservatives. There is also resentment and caution on the Conservative benches about the way he was able to hold the party to ransom in the negotiations which led to his appointment as second to Mr Cameron.
His main contribution was to emphasis government determination to proceed with the reform of the House of Lords given that it is nearly 100 years since any government proposed to abolish heredity peers from sitting in the chamber. In order to expedite, a committee has been formed agree on a model to be presented as a draft legislation to Parliament and to the people of Britain. This will comprise the political managers from the three Parties which included the abolition and replacement in their election manifestoes, and therefore exclude the nationalist parties for Ireland, Wales and Scotland who were incensed especially at being presented with a fait accompli. There are those who would like to see the House of Lords remain in its present form without the executive being able to take full control and therefore limit further its power to revise legislation and keep the executive under scrutiny
Later at 10pm with around 600 members still in the chamber the deputy Leader of the House introduced the orders which enabled the setting up a new standing committee of the Commons to monitor the role and the powers of the Deputy Prime Minister not covered by other Standing Committees. The role of the Cabinet office in general is already covered. The introduction and questioning lasted one hour.
The other burning issue raised by Conservative, Labour and other members was the decision to create a situation where the House of Commons cannot be dissolved and a general election without a request by 55% of the House of Commons instead of 51% as now. This is a device to ensure that in the event of Coalitions continuing, it is not possible for the majority Party to force the minority party into accepting a minor role with the threat of dissolution within the fixed Parliament term. Understandably the Labour Opposition and hard lime Conservatives do not want the Coalition to last a full Parliament because there would be a greater likelihood of the electoral changes being implement which in turn will make future coalitions more likely. I can see the government having to accept at 51% vote if following a defeat of particular legislation a vote of confidence is carried and a new government made out of a new coalition is not possible.
The other area of contention is the proposal to create a fairer distribution of votes in constituencies in a situation where there is one constituency in Scotland for an Island with a population of 20000 and another in England. The Island of Wight, which is a constituency of over 100000. This is clearly not fair. However achieving a better balance while reducing the total number of MPs will pose problems. Part of the value of the Member of Parliament is to represent a defined area with individual characteristics.
The session also covered Home Affairs and here the issue which concerned many speakers, not all female, is the plan to give anonymity to those accused of rape until the point of a conviction. The Government, with some support from members of the Commons Committee who examined the subject had responded those who felt that because of media interest, individuals subsequently found not guilty found their lives and those of their families significantly adversely affected. However critics rightly in my judgement believe that in selecting these defendants for special treatment it creates the wrong signals, making it more difficult for victims to come forward and casting doubt in the kinds of juries from the outset of any trial. Moreover it is disclosure of the name of the accused that can lead to other women coming forward although in response to an adjournment debate, the Government Minister offered to hear evidence on this point. My impression is that the government has been affected by the widespread concern from members across the Parties about this proposal and may consider some concession such as anonymity between arrest and the decision to prosecute.
There was also concern at the decision of the Coalition to bring in further controls on CCTV cameras although the emphasis is on control rather than removal of existing camera. In a situation where Britain has more cameras than anywhere else. However I do not see this as a valid argument given the widespread popularity among the public of the use of cameras to provide security and help solve crimes and find or help in, missing people. I suspect this is more cost cutting than a major issue with the electorate.
This afternoon the Government introduced the Bill to abolish Identity cards. This again is something I had no quarrel with but I also appreciated that it was part of a number of authoritarian measures which the Labour Part introduced. I accept that criminals and terrorists would find ways to bypass any new system but the idea of keeping an ongoing register of where people are and their status between the ten year census was a good one.
I also had no quarrel with the widening of the DNA database which has been instrumental in solve past as well as current crimes and similar with the biometric passport which would carry a fingerprint. My objection is to the intrusion and misuse of powers by local authorities and other bodies using the Terrorist legislation for their own purposes, and the attempt to end some trials and inquests by jury.
The last day of the Queen’s speech debates revealed that Newcastle Central has elected its first black Member of Parliament. in fact the first black Member of Parliament in Newcastle and I suspect the whole North East. Moreover although she was born in the UK, her father came from Biafra, and she moved to Nigeria when a baby but when the Biafran civil war broke out her mother brought their children back to England while he remained in the Biafran army. Chi Onwurah gained an Engineering degree from Imperial College and an MBA from Manchester Business school and has worked abroad as well as head of Telecom technology at OFCOM. Her maiden speech left several people Gob smacked and the Government Minister replying to the last debate on the Queen's speech singled her out of all the 22 new members for special praise, and hopefully not a kiss of death predicated she would quickly become a major figure for the Opposition, I also thought the brother of Boris Johnston was self deprecatingly funny but best of all the new Conservative Member of Parliament for Grantham praised the labour government for their approach to equal opportunity and rights as a Gay man! I wonder what Mrs Thatcher thinks of that!
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