EU Referendum: Conduct

Debate between Lord Grocott and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Monday 22nd October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

My Lords, let us hear from the noble Lord, Lord Grocott.

[Lord Grocott]

I am grateful to the noble Lord. My noble friend Lord Foulkes spoke with passion and eloquence on behalf of the 700,000 people who marched. If I can say a word on behalf of the 17.4 million people who voted leave, it is this: ever since the referendum result was declared—this just another step along the way—there has been an unremitting campaign to try to discredit or, at best, reverse the result of the referendum on numerous different fronts, of which this is just the latest example. Can the Minister put this all in perspective and recognise that the 17.4 million people who voted leave were not all duped by the Russians and were not all ignorant about the issues which were before them? All they asked was this simple request, which we want the Government to get on with: to leave the European Union.

Hereditary Peers By-election

Debate between Lord Grocott and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Wednesday 18th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

My Lords, it would be wrong to let this occasion pass without pointing out again that we have just heard the result of a by-election that gives us a new Member of Parliament, which would not normally be referred to in just a matter of a few words. Nothing I say is, in any way, a criticism of the person who has just been elected, but he was elected, as the Clerk of the Parliaments has said, with an electorate of 47 people and 11 candidates. Simply to announce the winner is, to put it politely, a bizarre way of concluding a bizarre electoral system.

I ask again and will keep doing so: why the secrecy surrounding all this? Was this item ever on the annunciator? I looked for it but, no, it was not there. It is an important item of today’s proceedings. Was it on the Order Paper? There was not a word. The next item is the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, a very important Bill, but for goodness sake should it not be on the Order Paper? Was at any stage the House of Lords Commission involved in this procedure? No, it was not. Will the new Member of Parliament be introduced in the normal way? The answer is no to all these questions.

The truth is that, whenever these by-elections occur, they have all the characteristics of a private admittance to a private club. I say, to quote a former Prime Minister, “Let the sunshine in”. We should know more about these by-elections when they take place. Why cannot we have the figures for the winner and for the losers, and the majority, just as a template? I offer this to the Chief Whip, for whom I have great respect given the hugely important office that he holds. Why can it not be announced?

In the last by-election that we had, for example, the winner got 12 votes and the runner-up got five, so there was a majority of seven. I know why we do not announce these results: because they are embarrassing and ridiculous. The bad news is that yet another of these by-elections is coming up. The even worse news is that I shall repeat this statement then. I am not a proud man; I am quite happy for it to be recorded and simply played out whenever there is a by-election. We have got to deal with this issue. It is beyond ridiculous, so let us get on with it.

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

We know the noble Lord’s views on hereditary by-elections. He has a Bill before the House, which the House will consider in September. Meanwhile, he really should know—having been Chief Whip himself—that the whole of the information that he requires is available in the Printed Paper Office. In the Printed Paper Office is the notice of election, which tells him on what day the ballot will take place and on what day the election will be announced. All details of every vote are recorded on the document in the Printed Paper Office. He need only to go to the Printed Paper Office to get all the information he requires. Indeed, he could pick up several copies to give to others who he thinks need to be informed.

Hereditary Peers By-election

Debate between Lord Grocott and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Wednesday 4th July 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

My Lords, the Clerk of the Parliaments has just made an important announcement of the result of a parliamentary by-election, which is always of significance in whichever House it takes place. He has acted as a returning officer, effectively. I make no criticism of him, because he is acting in accordance with precedence, but there are two by-elections pending and the returning officer’s responsibility is wider than simply announcing the result. Can I ask that, in future, when he announces the result of the next two by-elections, he also tells us the total number of votes cast, the votes cast for each candidate, the number of ballots, the number of spoiled papers, should there be any, and finally the percentage turnout? Can the usual channels ensure that that is done on all future occasions?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

My Lords, my distinguished predecessor of the office I currently hold will know that there is no Question before the House. He has presented a large shopping list. He has a Bill before the House and he should know that I intend to make provision for further discussion on his Bill sometime in the autumn. I hope that satisfies noble Lords on his particular interest in this matter. I will read Hansard for the specific demands that he makes.

House of Lords: Size

Debate between Lord Grocott and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Garel-Jones (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

My Lords, I think we will hear from the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, and then from the Conservative Benches.

[Lord Grocott]

I gently suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Young, that he would not be answering 15 questions if he could give us one answer. The answer that I would like him to give us is the one that was presented by the Burns report, which has been largely accepted by the House, and indeed implicitly by the Government; that is, the completely anomalous position of having 92 protected places while trying to reduce the size of the House, so that, following last week’s vacancy caused by the retirement of Earl Baldwin, this House will be by law obliged—against its policy—to replace that exiting Peer with a new Peer. If the Minister will simply answer yes to my question of whether the Government will put an end to that anomaly, I guarantee that he will not get any more questions from me.