Points of Order

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman should not read into what I said any more than what I said. The right hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Ann Clwyd) raised a point of importance and concern to her and, I am sure, others. In seeking to respond effectively to her attempted point of order, I simply drew attention to the fact that there was a means by which the issue could be considered. I have said what I have said. The Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority will be a forum in which matters of concern can be aired and addressed. It will not be beyond his ingenuity to make of that what he will.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Have you had an opportunity to complete your deliberations on the matter I raised with you last week—the fact that under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, only 95 Ministers may sit and vote in the House of Commons at any one time? At the beginning of last week there were only 95 Ministers, but then three Liberal Democrat Members, who I understand to be part of the Government, were appointed as Whips. That takes us above the 95 figure, so surely either they should not be allowed to sit and vote in the House of Commons, or—if they are now organising an operation separate from the Government—they should be sitting on the Opposition Benches, not on the Government Benches, or they should not be calling themselves Whips.

[Mr Speaker]

I have indeed inquired into the matter that the hon. Gentleman previously raised. I have completed what he generously described as my deliberations on the subject, and I have reached my conclusion. What is more, as he can tell, I am literally itching to share my conclusion both with him and with the House—although how he will feel when I have finished is a matter for speculation and conjecture. I am assured by the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip that the three hon. Members whom he has asked to work as party Whips are not members of the Government. On that basis, the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about the total number of Ministers on the Government payroll can be allayed. If—I emphasise the “if”—it is possible, as a result of this ruling, to put his mind at rest, I shall be especially gratified.