Clear the Lobby: What Laws are MPs voting on this week? W/C 19th April

Welcome to our weekly feature courtesy of Sebastian Salek, the brains behind Clear the Lobby, working to bring you all the laws MPs are voting on this week, and explained in plain English!

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Hey team.

We’re looking ahead to two major events this week.

The end of this parliamentary year looms. It’ll probably happen in May, which means another State Opening of Parliament and another Queen’s Speech setting out the government’s legislatory agenda.

There are also local elections across the country on 6 May. All the more an incentive for the government to stay out of trouble.

There’s a potentially delicate moment on Wednesday.

One theme of this year has been how much pushback the government has received from the Lords. That happened again with the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill.

Peers made a lot of amendments, including removing protections for soldiers involved in war crimes and genocide. Will Number 10 push back?

And the Finance (No. 2) Bill makes its way through.

This is the piece of legislation that implements the announcements in the Budget.

You won’t usually see committee stage debates listed on the agenda below. That’s when the bill goes off to be scrutinised, line by line, by a small group of MPs. But big pieces of legislation like this call for a “committee of the whole House”, which means all MPs get involved.

Until next week. In the meantime, feel free to tweet me, or just reply to this email.

Sebastian (@sebastiansalek)

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MONDAY 19 APRIL

Finance (No. 2) Bill – committee stage
Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
Implements the changes announced in the Budget.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

TUESDAY 20 APRIL

Planning (Local Authority Housing Developments) Bill
Establishes independent local planning processes to decide on applications for housing developments submitted by local authorities. Ten minute rule motion presented by Paul Holmes. Here’s the backstory.

Finance (No. 2) Bill – committee stage
Continued from Monday.

WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL

Fur Trade (Prohibition) Bill
Bans the import, export, purchase and sale of fur and fur products. Ten minute rule motion presented by Taiwo Owatemi.

Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill – consideration of Lords amendments
Applies to: England (part), Wales (part), Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Aims to protect soldiers from vexatious litigation by creating a “triple lock” for prosecuting historic military offences, among other things. They are: a) “presumption against prosecution” for alleged crimes committed overseas more than five years ago, b) prosecutors required to give particular weight to certain issues, and c) Attorney General must consent before prosecution can proceed.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

THURSDAY 22 APRIL

No votes scheduled

FRIDAY 23 APRIL

No votes scheduled

Want more?
Check your MP’s voting record and read the day’s debates at TheyWorkForYou.

LAST WEEK’S VOTES

Passed

• Road User Charging (Outer London) Bill – goes to 2nd reading
• Finance (No. 2) Bill – goes to committee stage
• NHS Pay Award (Report) Bill – goes to 2nd reading
• Domestic Abuse Bill – goes back to Lords

Click here to read details of the bills in last week’s newsletter.