Sir Lindsay Hoyle
MP for Chorley · Speaker · United Kingdom
“Before we start questions, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary Sir Billy Boston. He was a pioneer in the rugby world, switching codes from union to league, a record try scorer for Wigan, and the second highest all-time scorer of tries.”
“I inform the House that I have received letters from the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) informing me of her resignation as Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, the hon.”
“If there is more than one candidate in any election, the ballot will take place on Monday 14 September between 3 pm and 6 pm in the Aye Lobby. I remind Members that new rules in relation to campaigning for Select Committee Chair elections, which were proposed by the Procedure Committee, were endorsed by the House on 28 April 2026.”
“We now come to the statement from the Prime Minister. There has been a lot of speculation over the recess, and I just say that this is in accordance with the rules of government. The ministerial code is clear. For those who have asked why I have not commented, it is because it is within the rules, which I do not make.”
“Before we come to the urgent question on British Steel, can I say that I am amazed that a statement was not brought to the House on this very important matter that affects different constituencies? Nothing ever seems to change, but can the message go back that just telling me is not an answer?”
“Before we come to business questions, I wish everybody a pleasant recess. I hope we get some downtime; it seems to have been a very heavy Session so far.”
The complete record
Every one of 657 lines we hold for Sir Lindsay Hoyle, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 14.
“Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, I extend a warm welcome to the President of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, and his delegation, who are with us in the Gallery today.”
“Order. Mr Bowie and Mr Cartlidge, it is continuous, week in and week out. There are a couple on the Government Benches who will also be going out for a cup of tea with you. Please, calm it down or you know the consequence.”
“Order. We are going to get through this Prime Minister’s questions. I want to hear the Leader of the Opposition and I want to hear the Prime Minister— [ Interruption. ] Those who do not may leave the Chamber.”
“Order. I am sorry to interrupt, Prime Minister, but Mr Holden, as shadow Secretary of State for Transport, you will be getting the express train out of here.”
“Order. I do not have responsibility for answers from the Prime Minister, and I certainly do not want that responsibility. How the Prime Minister answers questions is up to him, which is why I closed him down and said that he is not there to ask questions of your party. I think we will leave it at that; I am not continuing the debate at this stage.”
“Order. I want no more of this, and I genuinely mean that, from someone who is meant to be looking after education. I think we all need to set an example.”
“Before we begin today’s proceedings, may I extend a warm welcome to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America and his delegation, who are with us in the Gallery?”
“Order. One of us is going to sit down, and it is not going to be me. Can I just try to help? I have a load of Members who all want to catch my eye. This is topicals, and we need short and punchy questions and answers. We will get a good example from the Minister.”
“Can I just say to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) that it is no use shaking her head and pointing at others? I have to try to help everybody in the Chamber.”
“May I help the Minister a little bit? I did grant this urgent question. This discussion would not have happened if I had not done so. I am not quite sure that his statement and mine are compatible.”
“Order. We are going to run this session for an hour from the start, so it will end at 4.40 pm. If the Minister can help Members to get in, that will be really useful.”
“Order. I want to help everybody. Those Members whose constituencies are involved in this programme are the ones who I want to get in. We have got three statements. I know this statement matters, especially to the north, so we have got to get the people in. Please, if we can help each other, that would be useful.”
“Order. Come on! The hon. Member seems to be making a statement—there is not even a question in there. Secretary of State, I am sure you can rustle up a quick answer.”
“Before I start questions, I must inform the House that I have received the sad news of the death of Colin Pickthall, who was the Member for West Lancashire from 1992 to 2005. We have lost another great Lancastrian.”
“Order. The question is about waiting lists, and I am sorry but we have got to stick to it. [ Interruption. ] Order. Mr Logan, I was very good in bringing you in, especially with health being devolved, so please let us not change the question before us. Helen Morgan will be a good example.”
“In fairness, you brought me into this by saying that I would know about planning—absolutely—but I did not choose for you to be the Minister who answered this. I would have thought it would have been someone from the Home Office, and the Minister for Security. I call Alicia Kearns.”
“I would like to inform the House that Lord Forsyth of Drumlean has been elected as the next Lord Speaker. On behalf of the House of Commons, I would like to congratulate Lord Forsyth on his election—I look forward to working with him. I would also like to thank Lord McFall for the work he has carried out as Lord Speaker.”
“This urgent question relates to the ongoing interruption of water supplies in East Grinstead and the surrounding villages. What I am saying is that it relates only to the broader area that is affected. Please, this issue does not affect people in Northern Ireland, so can we keep it to the Members who are affected? If it does not affect you, I do not want you to speak. We have six hours on the Finance Bill later, so I am sure you can save yourselves for that.”
“Order. Let me reiterate, for the benefit of those who were not in the Chamber earlier, that only those representing constituencies that are affected—where the water has been cut off—should be rising. This is not about the storm, to which we may return tomorrow.”
“The debate was postponed on Monday because of the number of urgent questions and because the Government decided to provide statements outside the normal time. I am sure that when the Opposition applied for those urgent questions, they thought that they were important, so I am only carrying out my job and ensuring that Back Benchers have their voices heard. Let us hear one now—I call Dawn Butler.”
“Before we begin, I want to pay tribute to Karen Hodsden, who died unexpectedly during the Christmas recess. Karen worked for the House for almost 30 years, having started in January 1996. Most recently she was the service delivery co-ordinator, supporting Members and staff in Portcullis House and Parliament Street, but over the years she held numerous roles, including in the Members’ Tea Room and the Terrace Cafeteria. My thoughts are with Karen’s family, friends and colleagues.”
“Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, I extend a warm welcome to the President of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands and his delegation, who are with us in the Gallery today.”
“Order. I have also requested an early statement; the House should always be informed first. I do not like the chuntering; let the questions continue.”
“Order. May I help the Prime Minister? He does not need to worry about responsibility for the questions from the Opposition. That is their job.”
“I am intrigued, because question 6 has been transferred. It has even got on to the Order Paper. Why did the Department suddenly find out so late that it has been transferred? I do not think it is good practice, and I hope it will not happen again.”
“You have certainly put that on the record. We are not going to continue the debate unless the Secretary of State wants to respond, which I doubt.”
“He was a man of deep faith, which Pope John Paul II recognised when he bestowed upon him a papal knighthood. Our thoughts are with Patrick’s family, his friends and his allies across all political parties.”
“I want to say a few words before we start our proceedings about our former colleague, Sir Patrick Duffy, who died aged 105 during the Christmas recess. Not only did Patrick have the claim to fame of being the oldest living former Member of Parliament, but he was also the last to have served in the second world war, having survived a terrible crash during a training exercise. Patrick was a northerner who was born in Wigan—a Lancastrian by birth—and his death is a blow to the many people who enjoyed his company and his tales from the past. A Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992, and previously for Colne Valley, Patrick was a well-respected parliamentarian, an effective Navy Minister under the Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan and president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.”
“Order. [ Interruption. ] One of us is going to sit down, and it is not going to me, is it? We are in topical questions, and I have let the session run a little bit to get everybody in. We must have short questions. If you are going to come in on topicals, your question has to be short; it cannot be a long list. Please finish your question now.”
“Order. The point has been made, and it is on the record. Can I just tell the Solicitor General that because this is sub judice, I will move on to Helen Grant, the shadow Solicitor General?”
“I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the King has signified his Royal Assent to the following Acts and Measures: Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 Mental Health Act 2025 Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 Space Industry (Indemnities) Act 2025 Employment Rights Act 2025 Armed Forces Chaplains (Licensing) Measure 2025 Abuse Redress Measure 2025.”
“I wish all Members all the best for a restful Christmas, and let us hope for a more peaceful new year. I thank all the staff of the House, particularly my own team. They have been wonderful and they look after us. To those who are working over the Christmas period to keep this House safe, we must thank them as well. As I say, I wish you all the best for Christmas from myself and Attlee, who is very pleased that his cards have sold well this year. I call the acting shadow Leader of the House.”
“I have been very generous because it is Christmas, but the hon. Gentleman has taken a minute longer than he should have done. Hopefully he will get a new watch as a Christmas present, ready for the new year.”
“I didn’t realise you had changed your name to Gareth Snell, Mr Jopp. I know you are due to be called, but I have to take two questions from each side to get the political balance.”
“We now come to the urgent question on the draft Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2025. I remind the House that on 19 November 2024, I granted a waiver from the House’s sub judice resolution in respect of the related case of Dillon and others v. the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. As such, reference may be made to the case during proceedings. I call the shadow Secretary of State to ask his urgent question.”
“I will just say gently, Minister, that this is a very important statement, and what you have said is so important to the House. We do not need written ministerial statements; it would be easier if it was brought to the House, rather than hidden away in the Library.”
“Before we come to questions, I am sure the whole House will join me in extending my deepest sympathy to all those affected by the appalling attack at Bondi Beach on the first day of Hanukkah. I have written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Australia to offer our condolences. My thoughts are with the Australian people, and with the Jewish community in Sydney and beyond, including here in the United Kingdom.”
“Order. One of us is going to have to sit down. Please, it is topicals and I have some Members who did not get in before you. You’ve got to help them, please.”
“As the Leader of the House has brought me into the conversation, the contact that needs to be made within the constabulary is with Operation Ford. I would expect them to take over, and I would expect those who are embedded within Parliament to also connect to Operation Ford for local authorities and councillors. That hotline is there in every police force in the country. I hope people respond accordingly to what I find an appalling situation. An attack on democracy is not acceptable. I call the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee.”
“Order. We will expect to run business questions until around 12.30 pm. Hopefully we can help each other, and the Leader of the House will certainly help with shorter answers. Jim McMahon will be first.”
“Order. The same people are making the same noises they made last week. I said last week that it was not the right time for that, so if I were them I would not do the same this week. Please, let’s not carry on in the way we did last week.”
“Order. Mr Mayhew! I have told Labour Members, and I will now tell Conservative Members. We do not need the pantomime auditions any more, please.”
“Order. I think we have got the message. You are absolutely right to raise the point of order, but you do not need to go into the full detail. The point of order is about somebody coming into another person’s constituency and the answer is clear: whichever party a Member might represent, if visiting another constituency, they have to give notice to the Member of Parliament who represents that constituency. We have had it happen before and we do not need it. We are a quite a long way off a general election. I am disappointed. Every Member should always be informed of somebody coming into their constituency. Please respect each other.”
“I thank the right hon. Member for raising that point. I always expect Ministers to take seriously correspondence from Members, whichever side of the House they are on. This is totally unacceptable. I cannot make a meeting happen, but I do expect people’s correspondence to be dealt with quickly and effectively. I hope those on the Treasury Bench will be listening very carefully and will make contact with the right hon. Member. As I said, this is not acceptable; I am getting more and more people complaining about ministerial correspondence—we have even heard of one case that took 12 months. It is not good enough. The ministerial teams need to get their act together and make sure that Members of Parliament, quite rightly, get a reply timely.”
“I cannot guarantee that. I am not responsible for what goes on within this Chamber; I am here to keep good order. With another senior Member quite rightly raising a point of order on this issue, I hope that those on the Treasury Bench will have heard the message again. Who knows? It might be that there are different ways to ensure that the matter is brought to the attention of the Chamber. Both of you know how to do that, so I will leave it with you. Given the experience between you—I would hate to add up how many years—I think you know the answer to the question.”
“Bill Presented Reindeer (Licensing for Exhibition) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57 ) Sarah Dyke presented a Bill to provide that, for the purposes of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, domesticated reindeer are not wild animals; to make further provision about licensing in respect of the keeping or training of reindeer for exhibition; and for connected purposes. Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 16 January 2026 , and to be printed (Bill 347).”
“Quite rightly, the point has been raised, and once again I expect those on the Treasury Bench to have taken it on board. As I said previously, there are other mechanisms that the hon. Member may wish to consider. I could see the shock and horror of the Opposition Chief Whip when the hon. Member made his point of order—I was absolutely overwhelmed by the shock! Allowing that to rest, I do take this matter seriously, and the House should hear that. A WMS is not the answer on matters so serious, and those on the Treasury Bench should have heard that point. We should not shy away from this House; in fact, we should always come to the House first—I cannot say it more than I do. Once again, I suggest that at some point the ministerial code needs to be changed if people are not going to take it seriously. We will leave it at that.”
“I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister. I call the Opposition spokesperson to move the motion.”
“Order. [ Interruption. ] No, please just sit down. Don’t challenge me; it is not a good idea. We did quite a few days on the Budget. I think we can all remember every point you are making. Is there anything you would like to add? If you are carrying on the list, forget it. I call the Minister.”
“Before we come to the urgent question on Operation Kenova, I remind the House that there is an ongoing waiver to allow limited reference to any active legal proceedings relating to the historical troubles-related deaths. Any references to such cases should be limited to the context and to the events that led to the cases, but not to the detail of the cases themselves or the names of those involved in them. Members should always take special care to avoid saying anything that might interfere with the course of justice. May I say that I thought this would be done not as a written ministerial statement but as a statement to the House? When all the news channels are carrying such a major subject, I really think this House should have had that benefit. That is why I granted the UQ.”