Private Members’ Bills: Money Resolutions — House of Commons, 2018-05-21
Topic: Government Operations
Mohammed Afzal Khan (Labour, Centre-left): We have three hours for this debate; let me put my case, and then we will debate In outright disregard for democracy, this minority Government are abusing their Executive power to defy the will of the House. My private Member’s Bill passed its Second Reading unanimously. Since then, the support that I have received from all parts of the House has been remarkable. During the recent urgent question on this subject, Opposition parties were united in calling for the Government to bring forward a money resolution. The shadow Leader of the House, my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz), called this "an unprecedented position." The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) from the Scottish National party called it "a tactic to thwart the democratic progress of Bills that have been passed in this House."—[Official Report, 10 May 2018; Vol. 640, c. 897.] The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) condemned the Government’s actions, saying: "The purpose of the Government having the power to bring forward a money resolution is to give effect to the will of Parliament, not to thwart it."—[Official Report, 10 May 2018; Vol. 640, c. 898.] It was even more extraordinary to watch Conservative Members line up to dress down their own Government’s Minister. One after another, they accused the Government of carrying out "an abuse of Parliament"; of "denying a democratic right" of Parliament; of breaching undertakings they had given to the Procedure Committee; and of sending out the Leader of the House to "defend the indefensible". As the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) put it, the Government sent the Leader of the House "to the wicket not only without a bat, but without pads or a helmet."—[Official Report, 10 May 2018; Vol. 640, c. 900.] Mr Speaker, you have been extremely clear on your position that the Government should bring forward a money resolution and impose some "logic and reasonableness" on the process. Despite the clear and overwhelming will of the House, the Government have still not introduced a money resolution. The role of the Leader of the House is to represent the House in Cabinet; up till now, her behaviour has been much more like that of the Cabinet’s representative in the House. Several times, the Leader of the House and other Ministers have referred to the Conservative manifesto pledge to continue with the boundary review. Of course, that manifesto did not win the Conservatives a majority in this House. For a minority Government to defy the will of the House in this way is deeply undemocratic Another pledge in the 2017 manifesto was to address the size of the House of Lords. Over the weekend, the Government tried to bury the news that they were appointing nine Tory peers. Unlock Democracy was right in accusing the Government of cowering in the shade. That has been widely reported as a move to prevent more defeats in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. It seems that the Prime Minister is willing to keep to the letter of her manifesto when it is politically convenient and to abandon other pledges when it is not Defying the will of the House is an abuse of Executive power. Their power to bring money resolutions comes from the financial initiative of the Crown—the Leader of the House referred to that initiative to defend the Government last week. It is deeply disingenuous to claim that they are blocking my Bill for financial reasons. Under this Government, boundary changes have always been an issue of electoral maths. How can my Bill be a financial issue when the Prime Minister has just appointed 13 additional peers with all their associated costs? She is increasing the size of the unelected House of Lords, while cutting MPs in the elected Commons. She pays lip service to cutting the cost of politics, but will ultimately do whatever is in her party’s interest In conclusion, it is perhaps no surprise that, the weaker the Government, the lower they will stoop to avoid defeat. In refusing to bring a money resolution for a private Member’s Bill, the Government are trampling on parliamentary procedure, defying the will of the House and abusing their Executive power in pursuit of their electoral interests. The Bill will uphold the importance of checks and balances. We have been elected to serve the people, not ourselves. Those are the basic principles of modern democracy. Partisan gerrymandering is becoming only more pervasive. I urge the Government to make a meaningful change. I encourage the Leader of the House to go back to her colleagues in the Cabinet and bring a money resolution to the House before our Committee meets again on Wednesday. This weak Government’s motives are transparent. They are not fooling anyone.