New Clause

Part of Orders of the Day — House of Lords Bill – in the House of Commons at 10:30 pm on 10 November 1999.

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Photo of Andrew Robathan Andrew Robathan Conservative, Blaby 10:30, 10 November 1999

I support the arguments of my right hon. and hon. Friends on the Front and Back Benches, but in doing so invoke the spirit of history. I remind hon. Members on both sides of the House that the reason why we have Acts that determine how long a Parliament should run dates backs to the mid-17th century and the Long Parliament. Since then, the length of a Parliament and whether a discredited Government could extend their time in office have been critical.

I tried to intervene on the Minister, but, unfortunately, his nose was so deeply buried in his speech that he would not accept any interventions. I ask him in his brief winding-up speech—I am sure that it will be brief—to answer this question: are there any circumstances in which he would support an extension of a Parliament? If there are no such circumstances, why is he opposing the amendment? The amendment is solely to stop the upper House being packed. I hope that he will withdraw his opposition to the amendment.