Britain: An official handbook > 1977

GOVERNMENT
33
Parliamentary
Procedure
Whips, three (one of whom is deputy Chief Whip) are officers of the Royal
Household, five hold titular posts as Lords Commissioners of the Treasury
and seven are paid Assistant Whips. Salaries are likewise paid to the Chief
Opposition Whip and his counterpart in the House of Lords, and to two of
the Assistant Whips for the Opposition in the House of Commons. The
Government Whips in the House of Lords hold offices in the Royal Household
and sometimes act as spokesmen for the Government in debates.
Annual financial assistance from public funds helps opposition parties in
Parliament to carry out their business. It is limited to parties which had at
least two members elected at the last general election or one member elected
and a minimum of 150,000 votes cast. The formula is: £500 for every seat
and .£1 for every 200 votes, up to a maximum of £150,000. The Government is
considering whether public funds should be made available to political parties
for their work outside Parliament, and to candidates for election expenses.
Parliamentary procedure is largely based on custom and precedent, supple¬
mented by standing orders governing details of practice in each House.1 The
system of debate is much the same in the two Houses: for instance, every
matter is determined upon questions put from the chair or woolsack and
resolved in the affirmative or negative, as the case may be; and members speak
from wherever they have been sitting and not from a rostrum. The main
difference is that in the House of Lords the office of Speaker carries with it no
authority to check or curtail debate, such matters being decided by the general
sense of the House, whereas in the Commons the Speaker has full authority
to give effect, promptly and decisively, to the rules and orders of the House.
He must guard against abuse of procedure or any infringement of minority
rights, and he has a discretion whether to allow or disallow any closure motion
(that is, a motion to end discussion so that the matter may be put to the vote).
He has certain powers to check irrelevance and repetition in debate, and to
save the time of the House in various other respects. In case of grave disorder
he can adjourn the House or suspend the sitting on his own initiative.
Voting in the House of Commons is carried out under the direction of the
Speaker, and it is his duty to pronounce the final result. If an equal number
of votes is cast for and against the motion under debate, the Speaker must
give the casting vote, but he does so only in accordance with rules which pre¬
clude an expression of opinion on the merits of the question.
The procedure on voting in the House of Lords is similar to that in the
House of Commons, except that the Speaker or chairman has an original, but
no casting, vote—the House of Lords being generally governed by the principle
that unless there is a majority in favour the question is decided in the negative.
When the House is sitting judicially (see pp. 85 and 99) the question is put
in such a wray that, if the votes are equal, there is no interference with the
judgment under appeal.
The House of Commons has a public register of members’ pecuniary
interests. Members with a direct pecuniary interest in a matter before the
House must abstain from voting in connection with it, though in order to
operate as a disqualification the interest must be immediate and personal, and
not merely of a general or remote character. In any proceedings of the House
or in transactions with other members or with ministers or civil servants,
members must disclose any relevant pecuniary interest or benefit.
1 A major review of parliamentary procedure is planned.