Rail Dispute: Michael Ford QC

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall

Wednesday 29th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)]

My Lords, I do not think that two noble Lords can stand up at once. It is the Conservatives’ turn.

Arrangement of Business

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)]

They are Joint Committees of both Houses, and there is one week when both Houses will not be sitting together. Therefore, there are another 51 weeks when they can sit together, so among the many problems we face, I do not think that is an insuperable one.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

I ask the Chief Whip to acknowledge one other problem, which is that if the Commons are sitting and we are not, and something of significance occurs, requiring a Statement from the Government, we are not in a position to follow up that Statement in a timely way. That has happened in the past. Does he not think that is something to be considered?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)]

Of course the same applies the other way around, when we are sitting and the House of Commons is not. It is able to cope with that. It is true that in that one week it will not be able to, but as I said before, these are not insuperable problems. I said to the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, that I will look at this, but I do not think it is very likely that the dates will change. I have said I will look at them. It may be possible, or it may not. I think it is unlikely, but I will look at it.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, before I call the Chief Whip to reply, is there any other Member in the Chamber who wishes to contribute to this debate? As there is not, I will call the Chief Whip to reply.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)]

My Lords, I echo the previous speaker’s remarks on the staff who have helped us be here today. They have to do it; we do it for fun, and because, actually, we have a serious job in front of us. As I made clear in my opening remarks, we had to make a difficult decision about how best to use the time available to us.

I turn specifically to the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Adonis. You can tell he was the Secretary of State for Transport: you wait for weeks for an Adonis amendment and then two come along at once. But that is why I am particularly grateful that he has not moved the first—and ruined my joke, really.

But, seriously, he and a lot of other noble Lords have asked why the House was not recalled earlier than today. The deal was agreed late on Christmas Eve, and the Bill and its associated documents then had to be finalised, so today is the soonest the legislation could be considered. Also, bearing in mind that we are in the middle of a pandemic, we had to use hybrid proceedings—which involve speakers’ lists beforehand—otherwise we would have excluded many Peers who wanted to speak.

Perhaps I might say a quick word about the timing—about before and after. The reason that we have to finish today, in this sitting, is that the UK and the EU need to exchange notification of completion of procedures for provisional application early on Thursday 31 December. This exchange cannot be done until the Bill has received Royal Assent, as the passing of the legislation is a necessary procedure for provisional application. So we were very much stuck in a gap between being able to do it when the Bill and its associated documents were ready and having to do it at a very quick pace.

If we did as the noble Lord would like and had a provision for a substantive Committee stage, the time available for Second Reading would necessarily be reduced, and far fewer Back-Benchers would be able to take part. As I said, our proceedings today cannot be open-ended—Royal Assent must be notified to both Houses today.

We have heard that many noble Lords do not like the deal, and there have been criticisms of the negotiating process; I expect that we will hear more of that later on today. But I ask the House to consider what the alternative will be if the Bill does not complete its passage through the House today, which the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, referred to.

If I might say a word about precedent, I repeat what I said in my opening remarks that the way we have to consider the Bill today is not in keeping with our usual practices. The House rightly takes pride in its role as a revising Chamber, but today, time really is of the essence, and I consider these circumstances to be exceptional.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall

Thursday 13th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am happy to do that. The critical date is Friday 28 February, when a particular prisoner may come up for release. That means that the Parole Board has to do its business with its new-found powers, if passed by this House, on the Thursday. That means that Royal Assent has to be on the Wednesday, which means that, if there were any amendment on the Monday, there would be ping-pong on the Tuesday. That is why the timetable is so critical.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

Given that Monday 24 February is the first day back after a recess, has it been contemplated in the usual channels that it might be necessary to sit early that day? If so, when is that decision likely to be taken?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

It was not felt necessary, although there was the possibility of doing that; I accept that point. The usual channels did not feel that it was necessary at that time. Of course, it makes it particularly difficult on the first day back from recess, when Members of this House have to travel, some of them many miles—including by rail and air travel—to get here.