§ Mrs. Teresa Gorman accordingly presented a Bill to amend the law to relax certain requirements upon a private householder taking in not more than two lodgers, in respect of taxation, the unified business rate, and the provisions of the Rent Acts; and for connected purposes: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 15 February and to be printed. [Bill 40.]
4.29 pm§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You have often referred to the need to protect our procedure against abuse. Today we have had the introduction of a ten-minute Bill. Normally, those who object do so out of conviction, because they totally oppose what the hon. Member presenting the Bill is trying to do. Not in all cases, but normally, as you know, the opposition comes from the other side. The hon. Gentleman who opposed the Bill today obviously had no real conviction. That was shown by the fact that his name was included as a supporter of the Bill.
I put it to you, Mr. Speaker, that what we have witnessed is a mockery and a denial of the opportunity for Opposition Members to oppose the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman). That mockery of our procedure should not be repeated.
§ Mr. SpeakerI agree with the hon. Gentleman that it should not be repeated. The purpose of speaking against a Bill is to raise objections, not to support a Bill that has been put before the House. [Interruption.] I do not know that the hon. Member for Worcestershire, South (Mr. Spicer) was doing that today. It is not an opportunity to have a second bite at a ten-minute motion. Moreover, interruptions are not allowed during proceedings on a ten-minute Bill. The procedure should be kept pure. In future, we should proceed as the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) suggests.