Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 27 October 2010.
Ian Lucas
Shadow Minister (Business, Innovation and Skills)
11:30,
27 October 2010
if he will discuss with the Deputy prime minister the merits of enabling UK-resident Scots living outside Scotland to vote in any future referendums on the relationship between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive.
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government have no plans for a referendum on the relationship between Scotland and the rest the United Kingdom and, as far as I know, neither do the Scottish Government. The franchise for a referendum is normally provided for in the legislation setting the referendum question and rules.
Ian Lucas
Shadow Minister (Business, Innovation and Skills)
I thank the Minister for that reply. My constituent, Mrs Massey, is a Scot and British. Why should she be excluded from any future vote on the arrangements for Scotland within the UK?
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
I am sure that, like me, the hon. Gentleman will do everything he can to campaign to retain Scotland's place in the United Kingdom, and I see no immediate prospect of any such referendum.
Anne McIntosh
Chair, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Chair, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
I am an enthusiastic campaigner for British people living abroad obtaining the vote in all elections after they have lived abroad for 25 years. Can my right hon. Friend explain what the Labour Government spent the previous 13 years doing and why they did not implement this policy before the General Election?
John Bercow
Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
Order. May I suggest that the Minister's reply should be focused exclusively-and, I hope, briefly-on the policy of the Government rather than on that of the official Opposition?
David Mundell
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government will have noted my hon. Friend's representations.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister is one that has only existed occasionally in the history of the United Kingdom. Unlike analogous offices in other nations, the Deputy Prime Minister does not have any of the powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence and there is no presumption that the Deputy Prime Minister will succeed the Prime Minister.
The post has existed intermittently and there have been a number of disputed occasions as to whether or not the title has actually been conferred.
More from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
