Time and Motion

The reason that I have never been a Member of Parliament must be that I have never felt so strongly about anything that I have been moved to abstain.

But the Government can dig in its heels all it likes. If the House of Lords passed Ros Altmann's fatal motion tomorrow, then the Statutory Instrument to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment would be lost. It could not happen, so that would be that. Them's the rules.

If the Government had not wanted to run that risk, then it ought not to have used this device for the sake of speed and for the avoidance of scrutiny. If you do not play nicely, then nor will other people, and sometimes, as here, they should not. The report of the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee is devastating. This may be that House's last chance to show that it served any useful purpose. One of them really ought to.