Right, go on.
As a bicameral legislature, parliament has two separate houses: the Commons and the Lords. The latter is designed to provide scrutiny of the work of the government, and share the task of shaping and checking laws.
Okay, sure, but why is it significant right now?
Because the “Benn bill,” designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit, will likely be heading there this week.
This bill would require the government to either reach a deal by 19th October, or gain parliament’s approval for a no-deal Brexit by that date.
Last night, Boris Johnson lost his first vote in the Commons as prime minister with rebel Conservative MPs joining with the opposition to take control of the parliamentary agenda, under a mechanism—Standing Order 24—which has been used increasingly as Britain’s Brexit crisis has intensified.
That means they will now have the time to try to get the Benn bill through. The anti-no deal legislation is expected to be forced through the Commons rapidly this afternoon.
So we’re pretty sure it will pass?
Probably. The 21 Tory MPs who rebelled have lost the whip, and are therefore now technically sitting as independents. They are likely to vote in favour of the bill.
And then it’s off to the red benches?
If it passes, the bill will then move to the House of Lords, where members expect to see scores of amendments in a Conservative bid to filibuster.
Various amendments are set to be debated in the Lords today to try to ensure that the Benn bill passes by Friday evening.
Rumours yesterday suggested that the number of amendments could be 92. Overnight, that’s become a far more reasonable, er, 86.
That will take a while!
Yes, it will.
Dick Newby, leader of the Lords Liberal Democrat group, posted to Twitter this morning that he’d brought in a duvet, change of clothes and shaving kit.
https://twitter.com/RichardNewby3/status/1169157202394980353
What do the motions say?
Well, all sorts of things—but one Labour motion is expected to be particularly controversial. Designed to speed up the passage of the bill in the Lords, it’s already faced strong criticism from Leave-leaning peers.
As Esther Webber of the Times explains, it’s a break with precedent—but also may accord with a decision made in the Lords in January to make sure Brexit legislation which has the support of the Commons passes swiftly enough through the Lords to be properly implemented.
Will it pass the Lords, then?
Many certainly expect it to. Last night Lord Lisvane, former Commons Clerk, said that he anticipates it will pass by Friday.
https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1169007481214984193
Is it time to start talking about a General Election…?
Last night, Boris Johnson said he would be tabling a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, saying “The people of this country have to choose.”
Labour, however, countered that they would refuse to support such a motion until the anti-no deal bill is passed, lest an election be used as a mechanism to try to evade parliamentary plans to prevent no deal (keeping up?)
(This would certainly be unusual: it’s pretty much always in the interests of the opposition party to push for a general election ASAP. But strange times...)
So the situation is, in short, that Boris Johnson’s government is miles from a working majority, but that he may be temporarily kept in power because of, basically, a lack of a working majority?
Yes. Perhaps Newby should have packed popcorn, too.
As a bicameral legislature, parliament has two separate houses: the Commons and the Lords. The latter is designed to provide scrutiny of the work of the government, and share the task of shaping and checking laws.
Okay, sure, but why is it significant right now?
Because the “Benn bill,” designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit, will likely be heading there this week.
This bill would require the government to either reach a deal by 19th October, or gain parliament’s approval for a no-deal Brexit by that date.
Last night, Boris Johnson lost his first vote in the Commons as prime minister with rebel Conservative MPs joining with the opposition to take control of the parliamentary agenda, under a mechanism—Standing Order 24—which has been used increasingly as Britain’s Brexit crisis has intensified.
That means they will now have the time to try to get the Benn bill through. The anti-no deal legislation is expected to be forced through the Commons rapidly this afternoon.
So we’re pretty sure it will pass?
Probably. The 21 Tory MPs who rebelled have lost the whip, and are therefore now technically sitting as independents. They are likely to vote in favour of the bill.
And then it’s off to the red benches?
If it passes, the bill will then move to the House of Lords, where members expect to see scores of amendments in a Conservative bid to filibuster.
Various amendments are set to be debated in the Lords today to try to ensure that the Benn bill passes by Friday evening.
Rumours yesterday suggested that the number of amendments could be 92. Overnight, that’s become a far more reasonable, er, 86.
That will take a while!
Yes, it will.
Dick Newby, leader of the Lords Liberal Democrat group, posted to Twitter this morning that he’d brought in a duvet, change of clothes and shaving kit.
https://twitter.com/RichardNewby3/status/1169157202394980353
What do the motions say?
Well, all sorts of things—but one Labour motion is expected to be particularly controversial. Designed to speed up the passage of the bill in the Lords, it’s already faced strong criticism from Leave-leaning peers.
As Esther Webber of the Times explains, it’s a break with precedent—but also may accord with a decision made in the Lords in January to make sure Brexit legislation which has the support of the Commons passes swiftly enough through the Lords to be properly implemented.
Will it pass the Lords, then?
Many certainly expect it to. Last night Lord Lisvane, former Commons Clerk, said that he anticipates it will pass by Friday.
https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1169007481214984193
Is it time to start talking about a General Election…?
Last night, Boris Johnson said he would be tabling a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, saying “The people of this country have to choose.”
Labour, however, countered that they would refuse to support such a motion until the anti-no deal bill is passed, lest an election be used as a mechanism to try to evade parliamentary plans to prevent no deal (keeping up?)
(This would certainly be unusual: it’s pretty much always in the interests of the opposition party to push for a general election ASAP. But strange times...)
So the situation is, in short, that Boris Johnson’s government is miles from a working majority, but that he may be temporarily kept in power because of, basically, a lack of a working majority?
Yes. Perhaps Newby should have packed popcorn, too.
