This Week in Parliament #1: 12th of June - 18th of June

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A new format where we go through what happened this week in Parliament and look at what stood out, what was discussed and every exciting thing that happened that you need to know. Every week bills and motions are discussed and questions are asked and answered. It is the place where the Government is held to account and the Opposition holds people to account. Every week difficult decisions are made, and the question is; what happened This Week in Parliament?

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Monday 12th of June

The week started off with a quite controversial debate, namely a debate on the second reading of the Israel Sanctions Bill, a private members bill form the Labour MP, u/model-alice, which was supported by the Official Opposition. The bill wants to achieve two things, the first one is to put sanctions on the State of Israel, and the second one is to grant recognition to the State of Palestine. It stirred up the debate between the Conservatives and the Official Opposition, especially the Justice Secretary and Foreign Secretary where the ones receiving the most pushback. The most extraordinary part of the debate was the moment the proposer of this bill, u/model-alice, was named and suspended for part of the debate.

The rest of the day went by a lot more laidback, namely the Questions to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, u/tazerdon. The Secretary of State was criticised in the press over a failure to answer all of the questions that were put to them. He was asked a variety of questions, ranging from broadband rollout to grassroots football clubs.

Tuesday 13th of June

Tuesday was a quieter day, with only a second reading of the Affordable Housing and Rent Control Bill, proposed by the Government. The bill wants to provide regulation of rent increases, make sure that the rent that people are paying is regulated more than it was before, but also to enhance tenant rights in England and to address the current lack of affordable housing in England. The debate saw heavy opposition from the Liberal Democrats, who claim that the policy goes against market economics and against usual Conservative policy. The debate was quite tame and only saw a real discussion between the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and the Business Secretary over the effects of rent controls.

Wednesday 14th of June

The day started off with an announcement from the Deputy Prime Minister that Conservative rising star, u/meneerduif, was appointed as the new Secretary of State for Justice. The rest of the day was dominated by the Questions to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, u/BlueEarlGrey. It saw a continuation of the Israel Sanctions Bill, with the Foreign Secretary announcing that if the bill passes they will not be carrying out the provisions in the Act, pre-empting a possible resignation if the bill were to pass Parliament. The Foreign Secretary was also asked a series of questions about international cooperation and Sudan. After the Minister’s Questions the second reading of the Crime and Courts Act (Amendment) Bill was held. The bill was discussed already earlier in the term, but it was now rejected by the House of Lords. The debate saw only one speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister, who asked the submitter of the bill, u/Muffin5136, to withdraw the bill as the majority of the changes proposed in the bill were already carried out.

Friday 16th of June

Due to Thursday not being a sitting-day for the House of Commons, the next debates were seen on Friday, with Questions to the Secretary of State for Growth, Business and Trade, u/CountBrandenburg, and a debate on the second reading of the Pay Transparency Bill, brought forward by the Official Opposition. The Minister’s Questions saw a variety of topics being discussed, from actions the Government is going to take to improve the creation of businesses, to freeports and trade agreements with Commonwealth nations. It also saw the Spokesperson for GBT from the Liberal Democrats wondering what the Department was doing and what makes it different from the Treasury, quite an interesting question from the LibDem spokesperson. The Pay Transparency Bill saw opposition from the Conservatives, namely from the Justice Secretary who was arguing that the bill is going to make it harder for businesses to conduct their business and that it would make private information public.

Saturday 17th of June

Saturday saw the return of the Export Finance & Project Investment Bill after it passed the House of Lords with a couple of amendments. The bill was written by u/oakesofshott, the Minister for Diplomatic Relations, and saw support from both Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, praising the efforts to expand export financing from the United Kingdom. On Saturday there was also a debate on a motion from the Official Opposition calling for an investigation into the Batang Kali Massacre which occurred in the 1940s, it saw mixed feelings in the responses to the motion, as the Conservatives and Opposition were not in agreement to the ideas behind the motion.

Sunday 17th of June

On Sunday the long-awaited Knife Crime Prevention Bill had its second reading, aiming to reduce knife crime, something that was announced by the Home Secretary a while ago in a statement to the Commons. It wants to see punishments reduced and a change in the way we create knife crime prevention orders. The debate was followed by a debate on a motion once again from the Official Opposition, this time on the aftermath from nuclear tests carried out in Australia 70 years ago.

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This Week in the House of Lords

This week, the House of Lords mostly saw results of divisions from last week’s debates, with only two second readings and an amendment reading. The most surprising results were those from the Religious Freedom Bill, where three Conservative Peers voted against their Government’s own bill, and the Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition) Bill, which almost didn’t make it with 14 Peers voting in favour and 12 against. The Protection of Military Remains (Amendment) Bill and the Advertisement of Vape Products (Regulation) Bill, both bills coming from the Government, had their second readings after they passed the House of Commons. This week also saw the third edition of Oral Questions to the Government, with the Leader of the House of Lords having to answer these questions ranging from UBI to the avian flu.