Business of the House

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

We will deal with points of order at the end. I shall not forget the hon. Lady.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

Of course, all votes in the House of Commons are free, and Members will make up their own minds on this issue. I do not think a single Member will vote on the basis of what the Whips tell them.

The shadow Leader of the House has a point about the motion. We have not seen it, so how can anyone decide whether to vote for or against it. It is a shame that we are voting at a time so close to the publication of the motion. As I argued at business questions, we can have a compromise position between the Leader of the House who wants one day and the shadow Leader of the House who wants two days by having the debate tomorrow without putting on any time limit. Anyone should be able to speak for as long as they like and if that means having the vote at 2 o’clock in the morning, so be it. People out there would realise that we were taking this matter seriously. Will my right hon. Friend consider this point again?