Angry MP Complains About Being Silenced (In A Long Speech)

By Jonathan Walker on Nov 12, 08 01:36 PM in Politics

MPs are angry that they only have 90 minutes to debate plans for new regional Commons committees, which will oversee the work of Government in regions such as the West Midlands.

Sir Patrick Cormack (Con Staffordshire South) has led opposition, with an impassioned speech accusing the Government of stifling debate.

He said: "We make a mockery of this place if we do not have time to debate important issues."

So far, he's been talking for 35 minutes. As I write, the actual debate on how we run our region hasn't begun.

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2 Comments

Ursula said:

Jonathan, is he still talking? I might be cynical or naive but don't you think that important issues like the one above will be discussed (endlessly) behind the scenes; thus, by the time they become a "debate", more or less already decided upon?

November 12, 2008 2:20 PM

Jonathan Walker said:

He kept going for another 20 minutes or so.

Sir Patrick actually threatened to talk non-stop until 7pm, insisting he was quite capable of doing so (even though he hadn't had lunch or a cup of coffee, he said), just to make his point. But he decided not to, he said.

It's usually true that the debate makes very little difference, as most MPs vote on party lines even if they weren't there for the debate. If MPs threaten to rebel, the Government (or the Tory whips in the case of Conservative MPs) stitch up a deal with them in advance.

But sometimes it can go horribly wrong for the party leaders, which is always entertaining.

November 12, 2008 5:16 PM