Tag: Recall of MPs Bill 2014-2015

Recall of MPs Bill – Division

On 10th February 2015, three bishops took part in a division on the Recall of MPs Bill, during the bill’s Report Stage:

House of Lords Division Lobby
House of Lords Division Lobby

Amendment 1

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town moved amendment 1, in clause 1, page 1, line 10, at end to insert: “( ) In this Act the signing of a recall petition constitutes a public act and the information of each person who signs a recall petition will be accessible in a marked electoral register, if requested.” Continue reading “Recall of MPs Bill – Division”

Recall of MPs Bill – Bishop of Chester speaks on amendments

 On 10th February 2015 the Bishop of Chester, Rt Rev Peter Forster, spoke during the Lords deliberation of an amendment to the Recall of MPs Bill concerning conditions for commencing the recall process. The amendment, in the name of Lord Tyler, was withdrawn following the debate. His comments are below and can be seen in context on the UK Parliament website, here.

14.03 Bishop of ChesterThe Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, I will speak briefly on this. I think that it is a mistake to play off these conditions against each other, as if you were to ditch one and get a quid pro quo strength in another. Continue reading “Recall of MPs Bill – Bishop of Chester speaks on amendments”

Bishop of Chester takes part in debate on Recall of MPs Bill

On 19th January 2015, the Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Peter Forster, took part in the debate on the Government’s Recall of MPs Bill, during the second day of its Committee Stage. He spoke three times during the debate on Lord Hamilton of Epsom’s amendment, which sought to raise the threshold at which a petition against an MP would trigger the recall process, from 10 per cent to 20 per cent. The amendment was withdrawn at the end of the debate.

14.03 Bishop of ChesterThe Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, I think that only these Benches could participate in these petitions since we have a right to vote in general elections, although there is a convention among us that we do not. I think that the last person who did so was Archbishop Runcie, who simply could not resist voting against Mrs Thatcher. He was found out and promised not to do it again, so there is a convention that we do not do it but we could. Continue reading “Bishop of Chester takes part in debate on Recall of MPs Bill”