Hunting Bill (Procedure)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:02 pm on 15 September 2004.

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Photo of Oliver Heald Oliver Heald Shadow Secretary of State (Justice), Shadow Leader of the House of Commons 1:02, 15 September 2004

That is a vital point.

Section 2(4) of the Parliament Act 1911 provides for suggestion motions, which provide the opportunity to make a proposal for an amendment to the other place. It was no less a figure than Winston Churchill in 1913, when he was a Cabinet Minister in the Liberal Government, who said:

"The Suggestion stage is . . . to enable either small points which are oversights to be set right by general agreement or to enable suggestions of compromise to be put forward and debated. The root principle of the Parliament Act is that every amendment which makes for agreement, and for a change in a Bill which tends to lessen disagreement, can be incorporated in the Bill without depriving it of the advantages of the . . . Parliament Act".—[Official Report, 23 June 1913; Vol. LIV, c. 843.]

On the Order Paper today, motions are proposed to deal with issues such as compensation, intent and the breadth of the offence. Only this week, we heard that the business for tomorrow could not go ahead, and that time was available. I asked that some of that time should be set aside so that motions of suggestion on practical measures could be debated. What was the Government's reaction? It was a flat no.