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Tag: Lindsay Hoyle

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on the Fracking Vote

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on the Fracking Vote

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 20 October 2022.

    I wish to say something about the reports of behaviour in the Division Lobbies last night. I have asked the Serjeant at Arms and other senior officials to investigate the incident and report back to me. I will then update the House.

    I remind Members that the behaviour code applies to them as well as to other members of our parliamentary community. This gives me another opportunity to talk about the kind of House that I want to see, and that I believe the vast majority of MPs also want to see. I want this to be a House in which—while we might have very strong political disagreements—we treat each other courteously and with respect, and we should show the same courtesy and respect to those who work with and for us. To that end, I will be meeting senior party representatives to seek an agreed position that behaviour such as that described last night is unacceptable in all circumstances.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Anniversary of Murder of David Amess

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Anniversary of Murder of David Amess

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 13 October 2022.

    This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the death of our friend and colleague Sir David Amess, who was murdered in his Southend West constituency. David was an extremely diligent constituency Member of Parliament who died carrying out his democratic duties, which made his death all the more shocking. May I express, on behalf of the whole House, our sympathy with his family, friends and colleagues on this sad anniversary? David was a long-serving Member who was respected and liked on all sides of the House. We will not forget him.

    At this time, we also remember our colleague James Brokenshire, a dedicated, respected parliamentarian, and hold his family and friends in our thoughts this week.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on the Personal Conduct of Jacob Rees-Mogg

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on the Personal Conduct of Jacob Rees-Mogg

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, on 22 September 2022.

    Before I call the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to answer the urgent question, I have to say how disappointed I am that the subject of an urgent question was extensively set out in the media yesterday before being presented to the House. I hope that, as a former Leader of the House who was very supportive of me in criticising Secretaries of State for not coming to the House, the right hon. Member will be especially aware—as I know he is—of Ministers’ duties to explain that important policies are first to be heard in this House.

    I understand the importance of the matter and the need for our constituents to have the information as soon as possible and, for that reason, I would have been willing to allow a statement yesterday, if I had been asked. I am deeply concerned that I have to make another statement like this only a few sitting days into this new Administration’s existence. I ask the right hon. Member and all his colleagues to do their utmost to ensure that this is the last time I have to do so. I am not angry; I am so disappointed, and I hope that we will treat the House with the respect that it is due.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Address to HM King Charles III

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Address to HM King Charles III

    The address made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, to King Charles III at Westminster Hall on 12 September 2022.

    Your Majesty,

    Let me repeat our welcome to You, and to Her Majesty, the Queen Consort, on this solemn occasion.

    Members of both Houses of Parliament gather here to express our deep sympathy for the loss we have all sustained in the death of our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth.

    We have seen that this is a loss felt around the world. It is a loss to the United Kingdom, the overseas territories, the crown dependencies and the many countries over which she reigned. It is a loss to the entire Commonwealth, which she did so much to nurture. It is a loss to all of us.

    But we know most of all it is a loss to You, Your Majesty, and to the Royal Family.

    Newspapers have been filled with photographs of Her late Majesty since the news broke. The most touching have been those glimpses into the family life which were most usually kept sheltered from public view.

    Deep as our grief is, we know Yours is deeper, and we offer our heartfelt sympathy to You and all the Royal Family.

    We know that there is nothing we can say in praise of our late Queen – Your mother – that You will not already know. Over the past days Members of the House have spoken of their encounters with Queen Elizabeth. They have spoken of her sense of duty, her wisdom, her kindness and her humour. How she touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of their constituents in her visits to every part of the country Their words have been heartfelt.

    She sat in this historic Hall, as You sit now, on many occasions. Some of those occasions were to celebrate milestones in her own reign. The addresses to celebrate her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees shared a common thread: that our constitutional monarchy is a symbol of stability in an ever-changing world.

    As Speaker Boothroyd said, Queen Elizabeth’s “wisdom and grace, […] demonstrated for all to see the value of a constitutional monarchy in securing the liberties of our citizens and the fundamental unity of this Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”

    On other occasions our late Queen was here to mark historic moments such as the fiftieth anniversary of the second world war, a war in which she herself served in the armed forces. And in 1988 we celebrated the three hundredth anniversary of the Revolutions of 1688 to 1689.

    It is perhaps very British to celebrate revolutions by presenting an Address to her Majesty. But those Revolutions led to our constitutional freedoms and set the foundation for a stable monarchy which protects liberty. In Your first address to the nation, You recognised Your life would change as a result of your new responsibilities. You pledged Yourself to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

    These are weighty responsibilities. As the late Queen’s namesake, the earlier Queen Elizabeth, said in her final speech to parliamentarians:
    “To be a king and wear a crown, is a thing more glorious to them that see it, than it is pleasant to them that bear it”

    We know you hold in the greatest respect the precious traditions, freedoms and responsibilities of our unique history and our system of parliamentary government.

    We know that You will bear those responsibilities which fall to You with the fortitude and dignity demonstrated by Her late Majesty. When the House met after the Accession Council yesterday my first, symbolic, Act was to make the oath to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Your Majesty, King Charles.

    And so it is my duty to present our Humble Address to You, our new King, to express both our sorrow at the loss of our Sovereign Lady, and our confidence in the future, in Your Reign:

    Most Gracious Sovereign,

    We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, express the deep sympathy felt by this House for the great sorrow which Your Majesty has sustained by the death of the late Queen, Your Majesty’s mother; extend to all the Royal Family the deep sympathy of this House in their grief, which is shared by all its Members; assure Your Majesty that Her late Majesty’s unstinting dedication over a reign of over seventy years to the service of our great country and its people, and to the service of the countries and peoples of the rest of the wider Commonwealth, will always be held in affectionate and grateful remembrance; and express to Your Majesty our loyalty to You and our conviction that You will strive to uphold the liberties and to promote the happiness of the people in all Your realms now and in the years to come.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

    The tribute made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, on 9 September 2022.

    Before I call the Prime Minister, it is with the greatest sadness that I rise to say a few words in tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

    Almost all of us in the House have experienced no other monarch on this country’s throne but Her late Majesty. Indeed, only a score or so Members in this House will have already been born, let alone be able to recall a time, when she was not the Queen. She is wedded in our minds with the Crown and all it stands for.

    After her accession in February 1952, she first came to the Palace of Westminster to open a Session of Parliament in November 1952, when Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister and Speaker William Morrison was in the Chair—almost 70 years ago. Fifty-seven complete Sessions of Parliament have passed since then and, as she was here to open all but three of them, as parliamentarians we have celebrated with her the silver, golden and diamond jubilees and, of course, marked her platinum jubilee this year in which the lampstandards were unveiled in New Palace Yard.

    In this place, her reign saw 10 different Speakers occupy the Chair. During her reign, there were 18 general elections, and I am sure that the Prime Minister will remind us of how many of her predecessors she welcomed too, and always, I am sure, with quiet wisdom. As the longest serving monarch this country has known, she will have been assured of a notable entry in our history books even were it not for the magnificence with which she undertook the role as Queen. And what a magnificent service that entailed: not just as Head of the Nation, but Head of the Commonwealth, Head of the Armed forces and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

    Over her reign, she saw unprecedented social, cultural and technological change. Through it all, she was the most conscientious, the most dutiful of monarchs. While she understood the inescapable nature of duty, which sometimes must have weighed upon her heavily, she also delighted in carrying it out, for she was the most devoted monarch. As well as Queen, she was a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother—roles she carried out with the same sense of vocation as well as human kindness as that of Queen. Her life was not without unhappiness and troubles, but our memories of her will be filled with that image of gently smiling dedication that showed throughout her life. Indeed, while this is a time of very considerable sadness, those memories of a noble, gracious lady who devoted her life to her family, the United Kingdom and those nations around the world which she served as Queen, will bring us some consolation and joy.

    My deepest sympathies are with His Majesty the King and other members of the royal family to whom I commend all our sincere condolences and support at this very, very sad time.

    We are meeting today for tributes to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. I would like to inform the House that we will sit today until approximately 10 pm for tributes. At approximately 6 pm the House will be suspended while His Majesty the King makes his broadcast to the nation. Members present will be able to watch that broadcast on screens in the Chamber. We will then resume our proceedings to continue tributes.

    The House will then sit again tomorrow at 1 pm. The first business will be oath-taking by a small number of senior Members. Members to be invited to take the oath tomorrow are being contacted by my office. All other Members will have an opportunity to take the oath when the House returns. After oath-taking tomorrow, tributes will be continued. The House is expected to sit until approximately 10 pm. The House is not expected to sit on Sunday.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Personal Conduct of Liz Truss

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Personal Conduct of Liz Truss

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, on 8 September 2022, before the start of the statement on energy made by Liz Truss.

    Before we start the debate, I want to put on record that I am very disappointed that a written ministerial statement that is relevant to it has only just been made available, in the last five minutes. Such statements should be made available, whenever possible, at 9.30 am. When they are relevant to a debate, as is the case today, it is doubly important for them to be available in good time. I am sorry that this has happened. I consider it to be discourteous to the House, and I hope that is not the way the new Government intend to treat the House. Rather than judging it to be deliberate, I will put it down to bad management or incompetence.

    We now come to the general debate on UK energy costs. Before I call the Prime Minister to open the debate—[Interruption.] This is not the day for that, given the way the House has been treated. I am defending Back Benchers and I expect a little more decorum from you.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Lack of Government Response on Extreme Heat Preparedness

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Lack of Government Response on Extreme Heat Preparedness

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 18 July 2022.

    Before we come to the urgent question, I want to express my disappointment that the Government did not come forward with a general statement on the heatwave, given its potential to have wide-ranging and serious impacts on the nation. Members need to be able to scrutinise the Government on all issues arising from the current high temperature, especially as the Government felt it appropriate for Cobra to meet. If it is good enough for Cobra to sit and discuss, it is good enough for this House to hear about as well.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Government’s Position on Rwanda

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Government’s Position on Rwanda

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 13 June 2022.

    I did offer to convert the following urgent question to a statement but I got a message that that was no longer agreed. The Minister will say that he cannot say much at this stage, but we were happy to work with the Department and put on a statement at 7 o’clock. What bothers me is the mixed messages coming out of the Department, which said, “We want a statement,” so I granted it, then, “We don’t want a statement,” so I had to go back to a UQ. There we are; at least we are all now aware of what has gone on today.

    There are a number of live court cases on the policy of relocations to Rwanda. Some of them might not formally be engaged by the sub judice resolution, because they concern ministerial decisions, but for the avoidance of doubt, I am exercising a waiver in relation to the sub judice resolution on this matter, on the grounds that it is of national importance. That means that Members are able to refer to the issue on an ongoing basis.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement at Beginning of New Parliamentary Session

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement at Beginning of New Parliamentary Session

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 10 May 2022.

    The House has directed the Speaker to make a statement at the beginning of each Session about the duties and responsibilities of hon. Members. I begin by reminding hon. Members of their duty to observe the code of conduct agreed by the House and to behave with civility and fairness in all their dealings. The behaviour code applies to Members as it applies to others who visit or work in Parliament, and it provides clear guidance. Unacceptable behaviour will be dealt with seriously, independently and with effective sanctions.

    The House asserts its privilege of freedom of speech. That privilege is enjoyed by Members of Parliament only in their work in this House; as private individuals, we are equal under the law with those whom we represent. It is there to ensure that our constituents can be represented by us without fear or favour. It is an obligation upon us all to exercise that privilege responsibly.

    The Speaker does not have the power to police the accuracy of Members’ contributions. Therefore, it is incumbent on Members to be accurate in what they say in this House, but if a Member is inaccurate by mistake, they should correct that mistake as soon as possible. Members must be mindful of the impact of what they say, not only on other Members but on others who follow our proceedings, and Members should be heard courteously, whatever their views.

    In this place we are honourable Members and the language we use about each other should reflect that. If a Member falls short of the standards expected of us all, there are ways of dealing with that, but not by accusations made as sideswipes during questions or debates. If we fail to treat each other with respect in debate, that diminishes our work, but it also risks raising the temperature of discussions outside this place—particularly on social media—which already too often descend into online abuse against hon. Members.

    I also wish to give some advice about seeking to speak in the Chamber. The Deputy Speakers and I take into account a number of factors when determining who to call during business that is not balloted, and one factor we consider carefully is how often a Member speaks —Jim Shannon is not with us. [Laughter.] In other words, if you have spoken much more than a colleague then, other things being equal, that colleague is more likely to be called—or certainly more likely to be called earlier—in the next debate for which you both apply.

    I know it can be frustrating not to be called in a debate or to be called very late; prioritising the debates, question times, urgent questions and statements in which you seek to participate is one way of trying to avoid that happening. Now that we have started a new Session, everybody’s scores start, after the reset button, at zero. I should make it clear that different principles apply to Front Benchers from the three largest parties, who are nominated to speak on behalf of their parties. Staff in my office are happy to offer further advice.

    Finally, I want all Members and everyone in the parliamentary community to be able to go about their work safely, both online and here in Westminster. The security of this building and those who work here depends on us all. We have a duty to be vigilant and to assist those whose job it is to maintain this place as a safe place to work. Before moving to the first business of the new Session, I would like to express my very best wishes to all hon. Members and to all those who work in this House.

  • Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Government Leaking Football Governance News to Media

    Lindsay Hoyle – 2022 Statement on Government Leaking Football Governance News to Media

    The statement made by Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, in the House on 25 April 2022.

    Before I call the Minister to make a statement on the Government’s response to the fan-led review of football governance, I must put on record my disappointment that the Government have apparently already trailed their response extensively to the media. It seems to me that we have a courteous Minister, but somehow Downing Street seems to ignore him and decides to put everything that the House should hear first out to the media. It is not satisfactory. It is discourteous, not only to the House but to the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), who has put in so much work in this area. It is very disappointing that anybody could believe that she should be cut out. When she catches my eye, she will be given more time to put her case about all the hard work that she has done.

    This might just be a lesson for the Government to stop being discourteous. Think about the people who get elected—those on both sides of the House. I do not blame the Minister, as I know that Downing Street loves getting these messages out on a Sunday night, but why has it not recognised that even the Prime Minister is a Member of this House? It might be good for us all to hear things first. As I say, the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford would not normally be given extra time, but I reassure her and the House that more time will be given to her.