Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 28th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jerome Mayhew]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I need some assistance in understanding how the House can express its displeasure at the Government’s manipulation of the business of the House to stop proper consideration of this Bill. Water was at the heart of the last general election—it is really important to our constituents—and yet the Bill’s Report stage was limited to less than one and a half hours, and not a single Back Bencher has been able to contribute on Third Reading. Is there a way that we can express our disapprobation of the Government putting forward two non-urgent statements today on Gaza and on Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo—both of them important in their own right but, I suspect, designed to eat up time?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I thank the hon. Member for his prior notice. While that is not a matter for the Chair, his comments are now on the record.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Lucy Powell)]

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I gently refute what the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) just said? Two important statements were made today. It is for the Chair to decide on urgent questions, of which there were two today, with both running for a considerable time. It was not the Government’s intention at all for this debate, which is on a matter of great importance to many people across the House, to be curtailed. I will certainly take on board what he says, and there will potentially be further opportunities with the Bill. [Interruption.] There will be statements tomorrow, and there were statements earlier this week; there are lots of important matters. We take great care to ensure that important Government announcements are made to the House through oral statements, and we are criticised when we do not do that.