Arrangement of Business
Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Williams of Trafford
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, before we start proceedings, I thought it would be useful to again focus, with the support of the usual channels, on the importance of good discipline during Oral Questions. As I have said many times before, the clue is in the title. The Companion is clear that questions should be short and confined to no more than two points. Crisp, clear and succinct is, I believe, what the House wants. While the majority of noble Lords follow this, we have seen a trend towards longer contributions and more questions becoming like short speeches. This restricts the time available for other Members to question Ministers, which I know is a source of frustration. I therefore ask that we continue with the overall discipline of short, focused questions to maximise the time available.
The same discipline applies to Ministers as well. The House rightly expects Ministers to give crisp, clear, succinct and to-the-point answers. I have reminded all Ministers of this; I have also made it clear to their private offices.
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)
My Lords, in the spirit of what the Government Chief Whip has just said, I totally agree.
Arrangement of Business
Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Williams of Trafford
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, today we have the first Oral Questions of this new Parliament. As I have said many times from the Opposition Dispatch Box, it is called “Question Time” for a reason. The Companion is clear: questions should be “short and clear” and
“confined to not more than two points”.
Question Time is not an opportunity for Members to make statements or speeches, or to give lengthy opinions, as we saw on several occasions in the last Parliament. This also applies to our ministerial colleagues, who should keep their answers as brief as possible and focus on the key points. This discipline across the House will ensure that as many Members as possible are able to ask a question. It will provide for better scrutiny and challenge of the Government at Question Time. There is no greater gift to a Minister at Question Time than a long speech containing lots of unclear questions, which allows the Minister to pick the easiest one to answer.
The House prides itself on being self-regulating. To make that work, let us all impose some regulation on ourselves. There is a role for the Government Chief Whip to intervene if the House cannot decide who the next questioner is. I have no wish to do this, but I will keep a tally of which Benches have asked questions and intervene if necessary. I would be grateful if noble Lords continued to follow the guidance set out in the Companion.
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)
My Lords, may I just confirm to the Government Chief Whip that we absolutely support him in every word he said? Goodness knows, I have said it enough times myself. I have a little black book to tell him who the biggest culprits are.
Arrangement of Business
Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Williams of Trafford
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
I thank my noble friend for that question. I am sure we can find time to debate those important issues, but I cannot give him a time at the moment, from the Dispatch Box.
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)
My Lords, I will be brief, as I always expected people to be when we were in government, but I will just respond in kind to the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy—now the Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms. I am sure he will do a fine job, as he will as Government Chief Whip. We followed each other through the DCLG and the Home Office and then as Chief Whips on our respective sides. I think the relationship has been built on trust and respect. I would describe it as a marriage of sorts: we row in private and keep it all fine in public. I thank him for his kind words and just reiterate that point: what we expected in government we will abide by in opposition.