And another thing…

ON THE first day that the House of Commons met following the 1997 election, so I’m told, the press were let into their gallery above the chamber too soon, and were able to witness, for the first time ever, the tradition of MPs at prayer.

Every day, at the very start of each sessions, the Speaker arrives in the chamber and is welcomed by all members present with some solemn bows. The Speaker’s chaplain then proceeds to read a formal prayer, lasting about three minutes. Now here’s the thing: the only way you can reserve your seat for the rest of the day’s proceedings is to put down a green “prayer card” in your place before the House sits. Then, provided you’re present during prayers, the seat is, theoretically at least, yours for the rest of the day and other members should (but don’t always) respect that.

But what if you’re not a Christian? Why should an atheist or Jew or Muslim have to sit through an act of Christian worship just to secure a seat? 

There are an increasing number of members who perform a small daily act of defiance at this tradition. They stand with the rest of us and nod to the Speaker as he passes. But as soon as the chaplain starts his prayer, these rebellious souls ostentatiously sit down while the rest of us remain standing to pray. It’s not up to me to name these individuals, but this morning I couldn’t help noticing that them LibDems are a surprisingly godless lot…

No doubt this is yet another tradition that the “modernisers” would like to dispense with on the basis that if it can’t include everyone then it shouldn’t include anyone. Yet the rebels have started their own tradition with their sit down protest. That’s the way these traditions should change — gradually through evolution, not instantaneously following a resolution of the House, which has been, lamentably, the practice so often in the past.

AS A SUPPORTER of the Speaker, I don’t usually indulge in speculation about who might one day replace him.

But Red Box is reporting rumours that Michael Martin may stand down as Speaker and as an MP this June. 

Once again, silly, paranoid theories about Labour scheming to install another Speaker from our own party seems to be the cornerstone of their logic.

I have spoken to many parliamentary colleagues and I have not detected any move to opt for a third  Labour candidate for Speaker. Of the Labour MPs I’ve spoken to, the most popular candidates seem to be Sir Alan Haselhurst and John Bercow. But so far I’ve not heard the name of any serious Labour candidate being mentioned.

PLEASE NOTE: I know the temptation to attack Michael Martin personally is too great for many readers of this blog, but please be aware that no such comment will see the light of day on this site.

CONSERVATIVE MPs have gone as far as they ever have in talking about their plans to politicise the position of Speaker if they win the next election.

In a post entitled “The Day Speaker Martin Lost His Job”, Iain Dale reports how some Tories were “incandescent” that Michael Martin allowed Dennis Skinner to ask a question at PMQs. Dennis chose to ask about George Osborne’s little local difficulty, and the hard-of-thinking tendency in the Tory Party see a conspiracy. One even threatened the Speaker himself: “One (MP) told me there was no way Tory MPs would stand for him remaining in post if they form a government after the next election.”

So although we have almost no detail about Cameron’s plans for government, we at least know that at least some Tories want to dispense with the tradition that the Speaker is appointed by the whole House. Instead, he or she would be appointed by the government, destroying at a stroke the authority the Speaker must have if he is to carry out his duties.

And what exactly are they moaning about anyway? Dennis has been an MP for nearly 40 years – it would be very rare for an MP of that length of service not to be called at PMQs. There are at least a couple of Tory grandees with similarly impressive records of service who, like Dennis, have no difficulty in catching the Speaker’s eye when they want to ask a question.

Is the anonymous, spine-challenged courageous, principled member who gave this quote to Iain suggesting that the Speaker knew in advance what Dennis would ask? And even if he did know (which he wouldn’t have, incidentally), would that have been a reason to stop him asking a question?

Based on all of this, we can expect a future Conservative-appointed Speaker to insist on knowing what every supplementary question is going to be before he makes a decision on whether or not to call a particular member. He will also not show any preference for long-serving MPs or privy councillors. And he certainly won’t call any Labour MP who the Speaker reckons might ask awkward questions of the Tories.

It’s not that unusual to have had two Speakers in a row drawn from the same party. But I have made it clear to colleagues that, because I strongly oppose even the perception that the Speaker’s chair is in the gift of a particular party, I will, if I’m still in the House when the time comes, vote next time round for a Conservative Speaker. 

If, however, the Tories start playing politics with this most important of positions, then I will rethink my view.

As far as Michael Martin himself is concerned, many observers underestimate the respect and affection in which he is held by members on both sides of the House. One of my abiding memories of this was in February 2005, when the House was playing legislative ping-pong with the House of Lords over the subject of control orders for convicted terrorists (inevitably Dominic Grieve thought the government was being just too, too beastly to the little misunderstood darlings, but now’s not the time to rehash that old argument). Thursday’s business continued through the night until well into what the rest of the world knew as “Friday” but which, according to the Parliamenary authorities, remained Thursday.

We were in uncharted waters, not at all sure where this impasse was going to lead us. There was a great deal of nervousness as well as excitement, most of us having managed to snatch only a couple of hours sleep between sittings.

And then the Speaker, who had gone home as usual on the Thursday, reappeared, unannounced, to take his rightful place in the Chamber. It is difficult to describe the overwhelming sense of relief that we all felt as he shouted out “Order! Order!” in his familiar Glaswegian drawl; relief, mixed with huge affection and respect. The cries of “hear, hear!” came from all sides and all parties.

The Tory who made the claim to Iain Dale about the Speaker’s future is an idiot. I genuinely hope he does not speak for his party, for if he does, then the Tories are playing a dangerous game.

NOTE: Given the political affiliation of many of my regular readers and commenters, I expect some of you will want to express robust opinions. I’m giving fair warning that I will not publish comments that are abusive towards the Speaker. You have been warned.

When I first started in this (ministerial) job, I used to joke that if I ever got really stuck at the despatch box with a question I just couldn’t answer, I would simply pretend to faint. Such action isn’t covered in Erskine May, the “Bible” of Commons procedure, after all.

Anyway, I didn’t have to resort to such extreme measures today. Nevertheless, it’s always an incredible relief at the end of questions when the Speaker calls time and we move onto the next business.

“Not fainting”… Tom at the despatch box

Gosh, doesn’t time fly? In just over an hour I’ll be back at the despatch box in the House of Commons answering Transport Questions. Forty-five minutes of questions from the order paper plus supplementaries, followed by 15 minutes of topical questions (a recent innovation that has received mixed reviews).

A huge amount of preparation goes into these events, whatever department you’re a minister in. I head for the Commons with a very impressive red folder, adorned in gold with “ER”, full to the brim with briefings which, frankly, I’m never going to have time to read. Then, at about 2.20pm I’ll head to the area behind the Speaker’s chair where I meet my fellow ministers and my officials, who may or may not have some additional briefing material for me not to read.

Then the Commons division bell sounds to signal the arrival of the Speaker in his procession and those who choose to do so can attend the Chamber for three minutes of prayers. I usually go in for that part on the basis that I need all the help I can get.

Anyway, an hour and 15 minutes to go. So why the hell am I wasting my time blogging when I should be swotting up?!

Vince Cable – formerly Compo Clegg to Ming Campbell’s Foggy Dewhurst – was greeted with loud cheers when he stood up at PMQs yesterday. We had all missed his wit in the weeks since he stepped aside to let Nick “Thirty.. count ‘em, THIRTY” Clegg take centre stage. But pride comes before, etc… He broke Commons rules by asking a question about the Queen, then affected indignation when the Speaker rightly gave him only one more shot at getting it right.

Now he’s joined the ranks of those looking to “modernise” the Commons and says such arcane rules are “ridiculous”.

Odd, because I can’t recall this being a particular concern of Vince’s before yesterday.

Referring to the Speaker’s expenses for maintaining his residence, failed MP Martin Bell: “We are close to a state of constitutional crisis.”

Attacking Michael Martin for authorising work in his official home is like criticising the Queen for allowing restoration work at Buckingham Palace. I actually remember a member of the public phoning Radio 4 during the “controversy” over Derry Irvine’s wallpaper back in 1997 (I think) suggesting that instead of buying Pugin wallpaper for the Lord Chancellor’s apartments, he should pop off to B&Q and get something nice for a tenner a role. Actually, on reflection, maybe that caller was Martin Bell in disguise…?