Lord Tyler
Main Page: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Tyler's debates with the Cabinet Office
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
Lord Tyler Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord True [V]
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend. On the details, I must ask again for the House’s patience. She is quite right to say that the Act was born in unusual circumstances: it was part of a doubleton with plans for proportional representation, which the Liberal Democrat party hoped at the time would enable it to hold the ring in Parliament and change horses whenever it wished.
Lord Tyler (LD) [V]
My Lords, if enabling the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament at a time to suit his or her party is put on the statute book, it will start to codify the royal prerogative. Is that what the Government intend?
Lord True [V]
My Lords, again, the noble Lord tempts me to go ahead of where we are now. I do not agree with the idea advanced by a number of noble Lords that, axiomatically, the Prime Minister’s power to dissolve works in that Prime Minister’s interest; for example, it did not do so for Mr Heath in February 1974.