Business of the House

Gavin Newlands Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words. He is right to raise this issue. GP practices provide a vital service to our local communities. We will continue to build on the recent changes to GP services in primary care, as set out earlier this year in the NHS long-term plan. That includes an extra £4.5 billion for primary care and community services, and up to 20,000 additional staff working in general practice over the next 20 years. I am sure that the Health Secretary will report back on that, which I hope will meet my hon. Friend’s demand for a debate.

[Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North) (SNP)]

The Leader of the House is supposed to be a great defender of Parliament and parliamentary democracy, but in January he said:

“If the House of Commons undermines our basic constitutional conventions, then the executive is entitled to use other vestigial constitutional means to stop it, by which I basically mean prorogation.”

Will the Leader of the House be Parliament’s man in Cabinet, or Cabinet’s man in Parliament?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

You and I know perfectly well, Mr Speaker, that this constitution of ours, this precious vessel of our constitution, is bound by conventions, and it is overwhelmingly important that all those conventions are followed and obeyed. Such conventions are about how this House operates, how the other place operates, and how the Executive operates, and they have grown up over time from our history and understanding of how we should be governed. It is risky to break one convention, because that leads to other conventions being taken less seriously.