the Order Paper, USA

Nice Try... (Posted January 15, 2019) Tweet Several Conservative backbenchers raised points of order on Monday Jan 14 in an apparent attempt to either dissuade, intimidate, or punish Speaker John Bercow for his selection of amendments to on the back of the Grieve amendment to the Business of the House motion he selected last week and with an eye to the meaningful vote on the draft EU withdrawal agreement scheduled for the following day and the pivotal government motions that would flow from that vote if the draft agreement were voted down. If the purpose of the government whips were to annoy the Speaker with points of order, they could probably have done so with a battery of mundane, bogus points of order referencing earlier exchanges. Instead, the points the Conservative members raised were barbed with references to the Speaker's selection of the Grieve amendment and questions about his fairness in the treatment of members. That was a tactical mistake. Instead of obliging Bercow to respond with mind-numbing, boilerplate reminders about the conventions of the House, they handed him a series of opportunities to engage in a characteristically marvelous display of oratorical judo.

Points of order raised by government backbenchers about the government's prerogative with respect to the business of the House. Part 1. Points of order raised by government backbenchers about the government's prerogative with respect to the business of the House. Part 2.