Andrew Turner expresses his anger as deadline for discussion about his amendment has passed. Ed
Andrew Turner has expressed his anger that the House of Commons has been prevented from discussing the effect that re-drawing constituency boundaries would have on the Isle of Wight.
Because of parliamentary timetabling, his amendment that would protect parts of the Island from being merged with the mainland, were not discussed during the Committee Stage of the Bill culminating on Monday.
Mr Turner’s amendment prevents any part of the Island from being merged with the mainland but does not specify whether the Island would have one or two MPs – that decision would be left to the Boundary Commission, who would take evidence from interested parties and the public, and would balance the needs of the Isle of Wight against those of the rest of the UK.
Frustration elsewhere
Other areas, such as Cornwall, who also believe they should receive special treatment were similarly frustrated.
Mr Turner said, “Because this Bill involves major constitutional change, detailed discussions take place in the main Chamber of the House of Commons and include all MPs, rather than being dealt with by a Committee. This Bill is extremely contentious and the five full days set aside for discussion at this stage have been insufficient – and time when my amendment could have been debated has passed.
“I have asked for my amendment to be discussed during the next stage of the Bill (Report Stage) next week; if that fails I shall be working with Peers in the House of Lords to ensure that proper account is taken of the Island’s needs.”
Mr Turner said he had already held discussions with members of the House of Lords who opposed the fact that the Island had not been given special consideration in the plans.
He also criticised the decision to push this Bill through Parliament saying, “With the problems facing the nation at the moment, people are amazed that the Government is spending so much time discussing these issues. We had an election only six months ago and no political party promised the change to the voting system included in this Bill. Time can be saved by careful scrutiny before things are put in front of Parliament and there has been no time for that.
“I understand that this is the price the Liberal Democrats demanded to go into coalition with the Conservatives but I fear that the outcome will be a shoddy piece of law that will not command the support of the public.”
