Business of the House

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I read the Hansard Society report, which I thought was more about engagement in the political process than the overall propensity to volunteer. I can only speak for my own constituency, where I have seen no reduction in the numbers of people coming forward to volunteer. On the contrary, I think that there has been a growth in the breadth and support of voluntary organisations, certainly in my constituency. I am sure that my constituency is not alone.

[Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

The Leader of the House has today published a Green Paper on parliamentary privilege with some perfectly sensible proposals based on the work of seven Select Committees. Would it not be worth while having a debate so that the House can address how we deal with the terminology and language of parliamentary privilege? As the Green Paper says:

“Parliamentary privilege is an often misunderstood concept. It is not helped by its name; the connotations of the word ‘privilege’ are unfortunate, as it is associated with special treatment for individuals. The term ‘parliamentary privilege’ might superficially imply, to those not familiar with it, that there are special rights or protections for parliamentarians, perhaps even to the extent that MPs and peers are ‘above the law’.”

That is clearly not the case, it has never been the case and it should never be the case, but we are confounded by the language of parliamentary privilege and the Bill of Rights. Perhaps it is now time to rethink through the whole of that language before we can get through to sensible proposals for reform.

[Mr Speaker]

For a moment, I thought that the hon. Gentleman had opened the Second Reading of a Bill on the matter.

[Tony Baldry]

It was difficult dealing with the chuntering of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) while I was getting through it, Mr Speaker.

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the written ministerial statement and the publication, and I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House, who did all the heavy lifting on this document. My hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) is right; what we plan to do is set up a Joint Committee to consider the issues raised in the document. I know that my hon. Friend’s guidance and advice would be welcome on that Committee. One issue is the language that we use about privilege, which implies our privilege whereas it actually is about protecting the rights of those we represent to ensure that this place operates without outside interference. We are trying to start a consultation and I am sure that my hon. Friend’s point about language is important. It is right that we should have a Government-led review of privilege on the basis of the Green Paper.