Points of Order

Ian Blackford Excerpts

Monday 30th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Supreme Court ruled that Parliament had not been prorogued, and it was clear that the Prime Minister’s intention was to stymie the ability of this House to hold him and his shambolic Government to account and that parliamentary business should be resumed so that we could hold them both to account.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I seek your advice regarding the provision of Opposition days. Standing Order No. 14(2) provides for three allotted Opposition days

“at the disposal of the leader of the second largest opposition party”.

That has been the Scottish National party since 2015. This has been the longest Session of Parliament in history, yet in over two years the SNP has been granted only one and a half Opposition days for debate on subjects of our choosing. We have repeatedly asked through the usual channels, and my hon. Friend the Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) has been asking the Leader of the House at business questions since the summer for an SNP Opposition day. Another attempt at Prorogation and a new Queen’s Speech looms, with the prospect of this Session being brought to a close without the third largest party in this House being provided with a type of debate that we are entitled to under Standing Orders.

Can you advise me, Madam Deputy Speaker, on whether my understanding of the Standing Orders is correct, and could you suggest what, if any, remedies are open to us to ensure that we are able to exercise the rights provided to us under Standing Orders? Would the Government’s refusal to comply with a legitimate request for Opposition time, when there are still allotted days remaining, be grounds for considering whether the Government were yet again in contempt of the House and its Standing Orders?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and for giving me notice of it and highlighting the Standing Order to which he refers. I hope he will appreciate that it is not for the Chair to become involved in the timing and allocation of Opposition days. I would advise him to continue to use the channels that he and his colleagues have been using so far to press his case for the time he is seeking. He may also wish to use other devices for raising the specific issues that he has wanted to raise on any Opposition days. On the issue of contempt, if he believes that there are any grounds for a possible contempt, the course is to write to Mr Speaker about the issue. I do hope that that is helpful.