Caroline Nokes
MP for Romsey and Southampton North · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He will be conscious that there are in the region of 15 more Members wishing to speak in this debate, and we have not yet heard from the Minister, so I am not minded to accept a closure motion at this point.”
“(3) For paragraph (3A) substitute— “(3A) The returning officer shall also provide each polling station with such equipment as is necessary to ensure that relevant persons are able to vote independently and in secret, including— (a) tactile equipment that enables the voter to navigate the ballot paper and accurately mark their chosen candi…”
“(2) During the period commencing 30 minutes before the time appointed for the taking of a poll at an election, and ending 30 minutes after the close of the said poll, a person shall not, in or in the curtilage of a polling station or in any place within 50 metres of such station, for the purpose of promoting the interest of a political pa…”
“New clause 97— Power of Electoral Commission to require disclosure from financial institutions — “In Schedule 19B of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (investigatory powers of Commission), after paragraph 1 insert— “Power to require disclosure from financial institutions 1A(1) The Commission may give a disclosure n…”
“() In paragraph 6 of schedule 6 (Donations from impermissible donors), after “section 54(1)(a)” insert— “or section 55B.” (8) In Schedule 20, in Table after Section 56(3) or (4) (failure to return donations) On summary conviction: statutory maximum or 6 months On indictment: fine or 1 year” Insert— Section 55A(8) (cap on donations) On sum…”
“(2) The specified elections for the purposes of subsection (1) are— (a) UK parliamentary elections, and (b) local government elections in England and Wales.”
The complete record
Every one of 5,486 lines we hold for Caroline Nokes, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 28 of 110.
“Order. I remind the right hon. Gentleman, and indeed all other Members, that this is, specifically, a Finance Bill Second Reading debate. We are not having a general debate on the Budget.”
“Order. The hon. Gentleman was in the Chamber when I asked Members to return to debating the Finance Bill, rather than the rather context of the Budget.”
“Order. The hon. Lady should sit when I am on my feet. This needs to be a debate about the Finance Bill, not other matters, and certainly not a general debate on the Budget again.”
“Order. I am going to make the request that I have made at least twice—this could be third time or the fourth. Please can Members debate the Finance Bill’s Second Reading, which is what we have on the Order Paper this afternoon? This is not a general debate on the Budget. We debated the Budget several weeks ago and we cannot keep covering old ground.”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving notice of his point of order. He is absolutely correct when he says that I am not responsible for the content of Ministers’ answers; nor indeed am I for their responses to correspondence from hon. Members. However, I must say that all hon. Members are entitled to expect timely responses to their letters to Ministers, and I am sure those on the Treasury Bench will have noted his comments this afternoon.”
“Order. Before I call the next speaker, I say to the hon. Lady that I know she will not have intended to do so, but she said “you” repeatedly, and it was very unclear whether she was addressing me. I suspect that the last time it was to the Minister.”
“Order. Mr Shannon, interventions must be shorter than that. There will be plenty of opportunity to make a contribution, should you so wish, during the debate.”
“Before I call the shadow Minister, I wish to make a short statement about the House’s sub judice resolution. I understand that several legal cases relating to contaminated blood products have not yet concluded. However, given the public interest in this issue, Mr Speaker has exercised his discretion to allow reference to specific proceedings where necessary, as they concern issues of national importance. I call the shadow Minister.”
“Mr Speaker is very disappointed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has not come to the House in person to update us on last Thursday’s Mansion House speech, which included important new policy announcements on a range of issues, including the consolidation of local government pension funds. I am sure that Members would have welcomed the opportunity to question the Chancellor personally on it. Mr Speaker is very sorry that the Chancellor has not seen fit to come here herself.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his point of order, and for giving advance notice of it. He will be aware that there is no general rule against Members referring to matters that are devolved to Scotland. There are some restrictions on the tabling of questions on devolved matters, but those restrictions are far from absolute. Questions that relate to various matters, including those in which UK Ministers have taken an official interest, are permitted. More generally, as ever, what right hon. and hon. Members may say in the House is subject to the discretion of the Chair.”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member for having given notice of his point of order. As he well knows, the Chair is not responsible for the accuracy of hon. Members’ speeches, but he has put his point on the record and confirmed that he has written to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East. I am sure that settles the matter.”
“Order. Members will be conscious that lots of speakers wish to contribute this evening. After the next speaker there will be a six-minute limit, which may need to be reduced in due course.”
“It is very distracting and difficult for the Chair, particularly if there are a large number of interventions and a large number of Members trying to speak to me. Please go through your Whip, who will be able to handle those requests appropriately.”
“If you are not able to be here because of other commitments, then you should withdraw your application to speak. Selection of speakers in debates is at the discretion of the Chair. The Chair, however, cannot predict precisely when a Member might expect to speak. When a very large number of Members have put in to speak, as we have seen over the course of the entire Budget debate, it may not be possible to get you all in, even with the use of time limits. If for any reason you need to be briefly absent from the Chamber during the debate in which you are down to speak, you should notify the Chair, but a prolonged absence may result in your name being removed from the list. May I ask Members not to crowd the Chair, please, to make requests about when they are likely to be called? Please go through your Whip.”
“Before I call the next speaker, I wish to make a short and hopefully helpful statement. It is about the way in which Members are called to speak in debates. Members who wish to catch my eye, or indeed the eye of Mr Speaker himself or any of the other Deputy Speakers, should write to Mr Speaker in advance. Those who have not written in may still be called, but priority will be given to those who have applied in writing in advance. Members who have applied to speak, but no longer wish to do so, should notify the Speaker’s Office as soon as possible. Once you have written in to request to speak, you should turn up in the Chamber for the start of the debate and for all contributions from the Front Bench. You should be present in the Chamber for most of the debate.”
“Order. There will have to be a time limit, but after we have heard all the maiden speeches. I call David Williams to make his maiden speech.”
“Members will be aware that this is a very heavily subscribed debate, so a time limit will be coming, but not until after we have heard some maiden speeches. I call Juliet Campbell.”
“There will be a reduction in the time limit to three minutes after the next speaker. A note: when I am in the Chair in the Chamber, I am Madam Deputy Speaker, not Madam Chair; that is for Westminster Hall, or when the Chamber is in Committee. I call Richard Burgon.”
“Order. I plan to call the first Front-Bench spokesman at 9.40 pm. That means that many hon. Members will not get in, but there will be more Budget debate opportunities tomorrow and on Wednesday. I will reduce the speaking limit to two minutes after the next speaker. I call Nick Timothy.”
“That brings that statement to an end. We will take a few moments while the Front Benchers swap over. I remind Members that if they wish to contribute during a statement or urgent question, they need to be in the Chamber for the opening statement.”
“Order. May I remind Members that if they intend to speak in a debate, they need to be here for the opening? It is a particular discourtesy to the House if the Front-Bench spokespersons are not here at the beginning.”
“Order. The hon. Gentleman can sit. He has been here long enough to know that when he says “you”, he is referring to me. I sometimes let it pass when it is new Members who are not quite used to it, but he should know better.”
“Order. I will give an advisory notice: a lot of Members still want to get in, and interventions are cutting into other speakers’ times. The only people who suffer will be you. I am leaving the time limit at three minutes, which could just about get everyone in.”
“Order— [ Interruption. ] The hon. Lady might like to sit while I am standing. I have previously told Members that interventions should be short and spontaneous. It is not an opportunity to read out a pre-prepared speech. If she wanted to speak in this debate, she could have asked permission from both the Minister and the Member in charge, and that would have been acceptable.”
“Order. Before I call the Minister, I must respectfully point out that a huge number of Members wish to speak, and that interventions from Members will only eat up the time available to colleagues and, in some instances, themselves. I call the Minister, Karin Smyth, to move the amendment.”
“Yes, several times. It is not me; I have never been a Health Minister. I reiterate that interventions will have to be short. I will be imposing a time limit, as we have to hear from an enormous number of Members this afternoon.”
“Before I call the chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, I inform the House that there will be time limits of three minutes on Back-Bench speeches and six minutes on maiden speeches.”
“Order. Before I call the next speaker, I am going to give some helpful guidance to Members still wishing to speak: interventions are only going to eat up your own time and that of others, and may well see you put to the bottom of the list.”
“Order. I give Members a small reminder that this is a very specific Bill, dealing with the hereditary Members of the House of Lords, and therefore that speeches need to focus on that topic. I also remind all Members—it is sad to be saying this to Front-Bench spokespeople—that when you use the word “you”, you are referring to the Chair. That is not how we conduct debate in this House.”
“Order. I gently remind the hon. Member, who should sit when I am standing, that the debate is specifically titled “Nuclear Industry: Cumbria”, and he might like to confine his comments to Cumbria.”
“I do not want to put anybody on a time limit, so I will prioritise maiden speeches. Those who are not seeking to make maiden speeches might reflect on that for a short while. I call Chris Bloore to make his maiden speech.”
“Before I call the Front Benchers, may I pass on the congratulations of the whole House to the constituent of the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Alan Gemmell), Kayleigh Haggo, on her wedding day? It is probably an adequate excuse not to be watching the speech of her newly elected Member of Parliament. With the leave of the House, I call Louie French.”
“There are a number of Members in the Chamber this evening. I know that some have secured agreement from the hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster) to participate in the debate, and that is perfectly in order, but I remind the House that the debate is time-limited and I expect that the Minister will be given plenty of time to reply to any points raised. It therefore may not be possible to accommodate everybody who wishes to participate.”
“Order. I made the point earlier this week that interventions need to be short. They are not mini speeches, they should be spontaneous and they should not be read out. Perhaps the hon. Lady has finished her comments.”
“Order. I am going to call the Front-Bench speakers at 3.59 pm. That means that the remaining Members are not all going to be called, unless they choose to make one-minute contributions, which I cannot recommend to anyone. This is just to alert you that there will be some disappointment.”
“Order. May I respectfully suggest to the hon. Lady, and all Members—she should be sitting if I am standing—that interventions should be short, they should be spontaneous, and they certainly should not be read out as if they were part of a speech. I am sure the hon. Lady has made her point.”
“Order. Before the hon. Gentleman resumes his remarks, I point out that the Front Benchers have used about 20 minutes each. I am sure that he is coming to a close.”
“Before I call the next speaker, I should say that the Front-Bench speakers have used up a significant amount of time, aided and abetted, I have to say, by excessively long interventions, some of which were made by Members who did not hang around long in the Chamber after making them. It is a courtesy to the Chair, and to the Front-Bench speakers, that Members who wish to contribute to a debate be here for the start of it. Those who were not here then will not get called, because we have very little time left. I call John Whitby to make his maiden speech.”
“Before we come to the next statement, may I reiterate the comments that Mr Speaker made earlier today? While the whole House understands that the business of government will go on during recess and that Ministers are required to respond to events, it is frustrating for hon. Members when statements are made during scheduled periods of recess, when the House is not sitting.”
“Order. I think it would be a huge shame in the Sir David Amess Adjournment debate to put a time limit on speeches. Members can see how many are still standing, and I know that many would like to make their maiden speeches before we disappear on recess. Perhaps Members could think about restricting themselves to seven or eight minutes so that I can get everybody in this afternoon. I call Connor Rand to make his maiden speech.”
“Order. I remind Members that interventions should be short. I know that you have all just had a master class in very long interventions, but I am sure that Dr Rupa Huq is about to conclude her remarks, so that the Minister has an opportunity to speak.”
“Order. I thank the hon. Lady, but she will be aware that that is not a point of order; it is more of a speech that she is seeking to make. Perhaps she will find an opportunity to contribute in the debate.”
“As the hon. Gentleman will know, the House is not counted, and the matter of quorum is not a relevant consideration at this time and therefore we shall move on.”
“Order. I have no choice but to put a three-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches before I hand over to the next speaker, which I am very sorry to do. Members will be aware that more than 40 of you wish to take part. I call Priti Patel.”
“Order. I appreciate that passions are running high this afternoon, and that there are many new Members in the House, but when we use “you” and “your”, we are referring to the Chair. There are good reasons for why we direct debate through the Chair. Please can Members remember that?”
“The hon. Member is absolutely correct. May I just helpfully point out to all hon. and right hon. Members that, in seeking to make repeated interventions, they are actually cutting into each other’s time? I have made the point previously about the correct way to address each other, through me as Deputy Speaker. Interventions need to be a great deal shorter because they are just cutting into the time for the debate and there are an awful lot of Members who wish to contribute.”
“Order. I remind the hon. Member that the word “disingenuous” is almost akin to suggesting that someone is lying. Perhaps he would like to withdraw his remark.”
“Order. Before I call the Minister, may I please remind Members not to use the word “you”—that means me!—and, specifically, not to refer to colleagues by name. I call the Minister to wind up the debate.”
“Before I call the next speaker, I remind Members that it is helpful for the Chair—not least me personally, but there will be other Deputy Speakers later—if you bob up and down. Even if I have your name on a list, it is helpful if you indicate that you wish to speak.”
“I thank the hon. Member for that comment. He will know that that is not a point of order. Would the shadow Secretary of State please proceed?”