Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, before we begin the next item of business, I remind noble Lords of the rules of the House in relation to Conduct Committee reports. Standing Order 68 says:
“Reports from the Conduct Committee resulting from an investigation under the Code of Conduct, together with any motion on a sanction, are decided without debate”.
That is very clear. It is a Standing Order of the House and was agreed by the House in April 2019. The Standing Order means that the only Members who can speak on these Motions are the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, who will speak briefly to both reports, and the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton of Epsom, who will then speak and move his amendment. The noble Baroness may then reply. No other Member may speak, so once we have heard those contributions we will move to decide whether these reports and sanctions will be agreed.