Mental Capacity Bill (Programme) (No. 4)

– in the House of Commons at 6:47 pm on 5 April 2005.

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Votes in this debate

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 83A(6) (Programme Motions),

That the following proceedings shall apply to the Mental Capacity Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 11th October 2004, as varied by the Orders of 12th October 2004 and 14th December 2004:

Consideration of Lords Amendments

1. Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall be completed at this day's sitting and shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.

Subsequent stages

2. Any further Message from the Lords may be considered forthwith without any further question being put.

3. The proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—[James Purnell.]

The House divided: Ayes 277, Noes 97.

Division number 150 Mental Capacity Bill (Programme) (No. 4)

Aye: 277 MPs

No: 97 MPs

Aye: A-Z by last name

Tellers

No: A-Z by last name

Tellers

Question accordingly agreed to.

Photo of Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith Conservative, Chingford and Woodford Green

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Will you confirm that Standing Orders state that, after the House has debated and divided on my amendment (a), any Division on an amendment will be in the hands of the Crown unless there is any free time at the end of the allocated period?

Photo of Michael Martin Michael Martin Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

That is correct, if all these matters can be discussed in the hour available. However, if the whole hour is devoted to his amendment, that will be the only one to be voted on, unless a Minister of the Crown were prepared to facilitate otherwise.

Photo of Jim Dobbin Jim Dobbin Labour/Co-operative, Heywood and Middleton

Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek clarification in respect of my amendment. Are you saying that there will not be a separate vote on that?

Photo of Michael Martin Michael Martin Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

That is correct, unless we dispose of other amendments in the hour at our disposal and are thus able to get to your amendment.

Photo of Peter Luff Peter Luff Opposition Whip (Commons)

Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek clarification on this matter. There will be a Division on the amendment tabled by my right hon. Friend Mr. Duncan Smith, and I believe that there may be a subsequent vote on the lead amendment in the group. However, will the House have an opportunity to express its opinion on the remaining amendments in the group and on the amendments in the other two groups? If not, will the votes on the remaining amendments in the first group and on the amendments in the other two groups be taken separately?

Photo of Michael Martin Michael Martin Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

That would be the scenario, if we take the full hour on the first group. It is then a case of the knife coming down and everything else falling.

Photo of Gerald Kaufman Gerald Kaufman Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will recall that when the Bill was last debated in the House, letters exchanged between the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and the Archbishop of Cardiff were circulated to hon. Members. Has it been indicated to you whether further correspondence has taken place, and whether the Archbishop of Cardiff has made a statement following the proceedings in the other place?

Photo of Eric Forth Eric Forth Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. For guidance, can you clarify that what you are saying to us essentially is that the House now has a choice between debating these important issues or voting on them? The Government's timetable has forced that on us, and here in the House of Commons we can have neither a proper debate nor the votes that we need to tease out these important issues. Is that the position?

Photo of Michael Martin Michael Martin Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

The right hon. Gentleman is using a point of order to express an opinion, which he is entitled to do from time to time, but I will not be drawn into whether I agree with that opinion or not.