Part of Oral Answers to Questions — House of Commons – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 June 1991.
Mr John MacGregor
Chair, Privileges Committee, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House Lords (Privy Council Office), Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Privy Council Office), Chair, Privileges Committee
12:00,
24 June 1991
It has nothing to do with either point. The pairing system has nothing to do with our hours of work and procedures. The question of access to various parts of Parliament—of the building—by MEPs is being considered by the Services Committee, but that is an entirely different matter from the points made by the hon. Gentleman.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Pairing is an arrangement between two MPs of opposing parties that allows them, with the agreement of the Pairing Whips, to miss occasional votes in the House. If two Members from opposite sides of the House both agree to miss a vote, then by agreeing to differ they would cancel out each other's vote, so neither Member need turn up. MPs are generally only allowed to pair on votes that are not three-line whips.
Normally, the relationship between pairs is long-lasting and the system brings together some strange bedfellows. Labour MP Marjorie Mowlam and Conservative Cabinet minister Michael Portillo were an established `Pair' before the 1997 General Election.
It is often difficult for new MPs to find an available backbencher to pair with.
Where the government side has a large parliamentary majority, some MPs will be without a pair so, except for crucial votes (some three-line whips), a number of unpaired MPs may be allowed to be absent at specified times on a rota basis. This is known as a bisque.
