For nearly seven hours yesterday, we worked hard on the Parliamentary Standards Bill in the Lords Chamber. The Government gave way on several of our amendments, either accepting them in full or proposing new amendments of their own. The Bill is now hardly recognisable from the mess it was in when it arrived from the Commons earlier in the month.
This process not only fully justified the decision of the House last Wednesday to press on with the Committee process, rather than kicking it all into the long grass until October, but demonstrated how effective the Lords can be, even under pressure. Although we missed some of the most eminent members who had contributed to the second reading debate (such as Lord Neill, Lord Woolf, Lord Barnett, Lord Howe and Lord Norton) we certainly didn’t lack any expertise. We also had the advantage of two additional Ministers (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Bach) to supplement the Leader of the House, Lady Royall.
I am particularly pleased that some of the amendments I was promoting and supporting were backed on all sides, and it now looks as though the eventual Bill will be workable, and avoid the pitfalls of parliamentary privilege.
However, the huge amount of work that will be necessary to finalise the text, and get agreement, has to be packed in to the few hours left on Monday and Tuesday next week. Both Houses are due to rise for the long summer recess (ten weeks, would you believe it!) on July 21st. The suggestion from Nick Clegg that these and other reforms are so urgent that MPs and Peers should keep working on them, if necessary, for some weeks to come, has fallen on deaf ears.
The Lords hope to complete both the Report and Third Reading on Monday – perhaps going late into the evening, even into the early morning – before the Commons can decide whether to accept our improvements.
Then comes the ‘parliamentary ping pong’. As the name implies this can happen at some speed, and there’s always the danger of mistakes under considerable pressure of time, and often in the middle of the night. Hopefully, MPs will recognise that the Bill is so much better for our efforts that they will accept it without further rancour. It remains to be seen whether the Government will swallow its pride, and acknowledge that this law will now be fit for purpose.
Yet more Westminster government legislation, not fit for purpose. If the Westminster government had had its way, and managed to cripple the House of Lords, bill after faulty bill would now be on the books and we would all be reaping the unexpected consequences. There has to be a better way to get MPs to do their scrutinising job properly.
I have been hoping for a post on ‘ping pong’ for some time. I know, of course, that a Bill goes back and forth between the two Houses during this process, but what I was rather interested in was what else, if anything, happens. Is there any attempt at mediation, or at explaining the details of positions? Detailed discussions by representatives of each House? If so, do the same officers of each House process the matters each time, or do they vary from Bill to Bill etc?
From what I can make out, the Lords position is strongest when a matter is time sensitive, as this one is certainly perceived to be, is this correct?
Thank you, Lord Tyler, for raising the ping pong subject.
Thank you stephenpaterson for underlining a vital point about “Parliamentary Ping Pong” which I should have emphasised.
Time sensitivity is crucial. When, as now, Ministers are desperate to make progress before a particular date – a long Recess, or even better the end of the session or better still of the Parliament – the Lords have much more muscle. When the Queen is waiting to open a new session, or even dissolve Parliament, it is remarkable what we can persuade Ministers to do.
Where there is less urgency, the Government of the day can probably over-turn Lords amendments with its Commons majority. Hence, the extra danger of postponing consideration of this Bill until the autumn.
For a detailed analysis of how ping pong can operate, perhaps we should wait until next week and see what happens ?