Emeritus Prof Christopher May
The one person right now who you might have expect to be called to speak in a debate of racism in the House of Commons would be Diane Abbott who's subject of a high profile incidence of racist language from a Tory donor... yet the Speaker said that despite Abbott rising over 40 times to speak during the debate, he ran out of time to call her.
If you wanted to confirm to the average voter that the political system is racist, this would be a good way to do it.
Mrs Cloudy
@ChrisMayLA6 @PhilipCJames He seems pretty fluid in his commitment to convention. Why is he still there?
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
The conventions of Parliament are exactly that, conventions; they are not laws, and if the speaker had wished to invite a Q. from the person whose experience the House was discussing, he could have... che chose not to, even if he is hiding behind convention
Philip C James
Point of information, Mr Speaker...
According to my less-than-well-thumbed copy of Erskine May, there is a strict order of questions to the Prime Minister laid out in the Order Paper for the day and Mr Speaker was simply following the protocol and calling those listed on that Order Paper.
It was not a Commons debate as such - it was Questions to the Prime Minister and most back-bench MPs have to wait weeks for a chance to ask a PMQ. Unfair to pre-empt!
https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/86044/Html?subType=Standard#_idTextAnchor001
Mrs Cloudy
@PhilipCJames "our failure"? Do you feel personally responsible for this? What do you think you might do to resolve the situation.
I don't feel personally responsible and nor do I think there is a single solitary thing I could do that would make any difference to anything.
Philip C James
Far less so than his predecessor, the saintly Bercow... As far as I'm aware Hoyle has made but one substantial unconventional decision (but that was an egregious howler, selecting Labour's amendment to an SNP opposition-day motion).
The Speaker has limited power when the government has a good majority (by definition the usual case). Less blame attaches to Hoyle than to our failure to separate powers properly in Parliament, where the overtly political LOTH controls Commons business.
Mrs Cloudy
@PhilipCJames where have you been for the last ten years? Never mind me, Scotland didn't lie back. Scotland voted for a devolved parliament. Scotland voted for a majority of independence supporting MSPs, voted to stay in the EU, voted for 50+ SNP MPs to represent us at Westminster. How do you feel Scotlands vote is being respected? What more can we do that you think would make more of a difference?
Philip C James
A little fatalistic. Are you going to 'lie back and think of Scotland'?
It's strange how little influence we have on the world, natural and artificial, individually yet when you add it all up, it moves mountains. Sometimes literally. Nothing will ever improve unless enough peeps make conscious efforts to achieve improvements.
Mrs Cloudy
@PhilipCJames aye, very good. What, though? If we all get together and....? Things will be better.
Philip C James
@CloudyMrs Glad to see that through it all you've retained your sense of humour.
JoanBCatWoman
@CloudyMrs I see @PhilipCJames never answered your question. No one ever does..
Mrs Cloudy
@muminitaly @PhilipCJames
There's no answer to give.
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