Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 May 1980.
Mr George Thomas
, Cardiff West
12:00,
6 May 1980
The hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) gave me notice before 12 noon today that he would seek
leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely,
the accelerating number of mill closures and redundancies in the Lancashire textile industry".
The hon. Member referred to the Emergency Debate on Shotton, but I remind him and the House that every application stands on its own. There was an application for an emergency debate on Corby which was not successful.
The House has instructed me not to give reasons for my decision. The hon. Gentleman and the House are aware that his is one of a series of recent applications under Standing Order No. 9 for debates about redundancies in individual constituencies. I merely remind the House that the hon. Gentleman is not alone in his application.
The hon. Gentleman has drawn the attention of the House to a serious matter. I listened with care and concern to what he said, but I have to rule that his submission does not fall within the provisions of the Standing Order and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.
An adjournment is a break in the course of parliamentary business.
The House adjourns at the end of each day's business.
On a daily basis the House adjourns, or breaks, half an hour after the moving of the adjournment debate.
The House is also adjourned for several holiday periods during the session.
The more lengthy adjournments - often coinciding with the academic calendar - are known as recesses.
An emergency debate is a debate called at short notice on a subject of a "specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration". An MP may apply to the Speaker for an emergency debate under the rules of Standing Order No. 24. Many more MPs request emergency debates than are granted. The Speaker usually grants no more than one or two a year and limits them to matters of national importance. They take place within 24 hours of being granted.
