Member Defections: Automatic By-elections
Debate between Robbie Moore and Roger Gale(1 week, 3 days ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Robbie Moore
I thank my hon. Friend for his point, which I think aligns with my own point: it is the make-up of the political party that gains the confidence of the House, and therefore its leader is appointed Prime Minister, should they get a mandate to be so, based on the numbers.
Where I do not feel that a by-election should be triggered aligns with the points made by the hon. Member for South Cotswolds. If a Member of Parliament is unfortunate enough to lose the Whip and therefore sits in the House as an independent, I do not feel that that should necessarily trigger a by-election, because it might be subject to circumstances outside that Member’s control—political difference associated with a particular policy and therefore voting the other way. The Whips may use that as a mechanism for removing the party Whip, but I do not think that that should trigger a by-election in those circumstances. I want to be clear on that.
To summarise, politics is about trust, and at a time when the relationship between politicians and the electorate is, unfortunately, becoming increasingly fractious, it is vital that our democratic system holds us to account for the promises on which we as individuals associated with a political party were elected, the platform on which we chose to stand for election, and ultimately the manifesto commitments that we stood by.
Sir Roger Gale (in the Chair)
I am sorely tempted to say that if somebody else would like to take the Chair, I will come down and do an hour on this myself, but happily for colleagues, I am not allowed to.
Taxes
Debate between Robbie Moore and Roger Gale(8 months, 1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Phil Brickell
I thank the hon. Member for giving way. He is the third consecutive Conservative Member to stand up and speak, but I have yet to hear what proposals his party wants to bring in to raise revenue or what services it wants to cut. In my contribution, I made a conscious effort to set out three constructive proposals for the Treasury to consider, and I challenged Conservative Members because there was a dearth of—
Robbie Moore
I am sure that the Government Whips were watching the hon. Gentleman and making a note that he will be in line for a job, and I saw the Minister quaking in his boots at the thought of those bizarre recommendations. The point is that the Labour Government do not realise that all these tax increases are hitting the many hard-working businesses across every constituency represented in this House. Shame on the Government for bringing them forward.
No matter how elaborate the rain dance or how impressive the Government press releases, growth will not come, precisely because of the decisions that the Chancellor has taken. We need a reset; we need a new direction; we need to limit spending so that we can cut tax, not consistently raise it. Until the Government realise that, I am afraid for all the family businesses up and down the country, which are being penalised time and again by this Labour Government.