Friday
Nov252011
Voices of Reason 1-0 Tobacco Control
Friday, November 25, 2011 at 14:46 Alex Cunningham’s Private Members’ Bill to ban smoking in cars with children came to a shuddering halt in Parliament this afternoon.
A lone voice shouting 'Object' was enough to stop the Bill from proceeding any further. There was no debate and no vote.
The good news is that the cry came from the Government benches and we believe it was from a Government Whip.
Like a bad smell the Bill won't go away just yet, however. It is tabled for another Second Reading on Friday January 20 but the odds are it will be ‘Objected’ to again.
Meanwhile it slips further down the list of backbench Bills, which means it has little or no chance of progressing.
Reader Comments (6)
Sorry Simon, I'm not great with Parliamentary procedure. What does the "Object" call, actually mean? How can one person shouting that stop it being debated? Happy that it was thrown out, just interested how it all works.
Thanks.
I would think David Cameron took care of this with a government whip shouting 'object'. He doesn't want to see smoking in cars banned because of the invasion of privacy.
He has said as much at the dispatch box.
Mr A, see page 6, Private Members' Bills Procedure.
Thanks Simon. Never knew that before.
Alex Cunningham was kind enough to reply to my email, pointing out the fundamental flaws in his statistics.
He had his moment in the sun.
There's still no room for complacency or reason to believe this is the end of the matter. From that link you posted in the comments above Simon I found this :
"The Government may
have any number of reasons for objecting to the passage of a bill. For example, it may
disagree with its objectives or it may be intending to introduce similar legislation
itself or at least to look into the practicalities of doing so.
Weren't you saying the other day that Nanny Milton is planing a TV ad blitz on smoking in cars with all the usual "don't kill the children" hyperbole and could this be in advance of some horrible plan the Govt will then bring forth?
I hope not, of course, but I don't think we can afford to take anyhting for granted. I'll reserve judgement and believe the Govt has backed off from harassing us further in our cars, and then at home, when I see it.