Dissolution of Parliament

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:52 pm on 25 May 2010.

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Photo of David Heath David Heath The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons 9:52, 25 May 2010

No. I am being very generous, but this is not the hon. Lady's Adjournment debate and I want to hear more from others.

I repeat what the Prime Minister has said already, which has been quoted. He has said that the country wants strong and stable government, and we are determined to deliver that stability with a lasting coalition. A fixed-term Parliament is part of that process, and I shall quote what my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said in his speech of 19 May:

"This is a new right for Parliament, additional to the existing powers of no confidence. We are not taking away Parliament's right to throw out government. We are taking away government's right to throw out Parliament."

It seems to me that that is a worthy objective.

There are real problems with- [ Interruption. ] Michael Connarty can chunter from a sedentary position, but I am going to continue to set out the problems with the current system. The most obvious is that it gives an unfair advantage to the Prime Minister of the day and the party in power. We have seen it time after time, with Prime Ministers choosing the moment for the Dissolution of Parliament not for the good of the country but for the good of their own party interests. That cannot be the right way to do it-