Furious Tory MPs accuse ministers of 'abuse of power' after Labour boundary bill is blocked
3 min read
Conservative backbenchers have accused their own government of an "undemocratic" outrage after a bill that won support from both sides of the House of Commons was blocked by ministers.
Labour MP Afzal Khan won cross-party support for his bill opposing government plans to slash the number of MPs from 650 to 600, amid warnings the proposals represent political "gerrymandering" by the Tories.
But the Government has refused to grant the bill a so-called "money resolution", a standard procedure that is normally put to the Commons as soon as a bill has passed its second reading.
The move effectively blocks the bill from going any further, a decision that sparked fury on both sides of the House when it was confirmed by Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom today.
Mr Khan accused the Government of a "deeply undemocratic" move, blasting Ms Leadsom for "trying to frustrate the democratic will of Parliament and block the bill by procedure".
"Whatever arguments that can be made for or against it should take place here between members and in front of the public, rather than in the backrooms of government office," he fumed.
Ms Leadsom also came under fire from her own side, with Tory backbencher Peter Bone saying he would be "exploding at the Government at the moment" if he were in Mr Khan's position.
He said: "What we're seeing here [...] is an abuse of Parliament by this government. It doesn't like the bill so it's using a procedural tactic which breaks all convention."
Fellow Conservative MPs Philip Davies and Christopher Chope also piled in, with Mr Davies accusing the Cabinet minister of "trying to defend the indefensible" and urging Ms Leadsom to recognise "the clear will of the House".
Mr Chope slammed the Government's behaviour as "undemocratic" and a "breach" of its own promises to ensure backbenchers could make laws. And he accused the Government of seeking to "abuse its power".
Ms Leadsom insisted that the Government would still provide money resolutions for bills on "a case by case basis".
But she said ministers could not allow Mr Khan's bill to go ahead while the Boundary Commission for England continued its own review into the number of MPs.
"This Government has a manifesto commitment to continue with this boundary review and before this report it would not therefore be appropriate to proceed with the [...] Bill at this time," she said. Ms Leadsom said ministers' right to grant the power to spend public money was a "longstanding constitutional principle".
But Labour's Shadow Commons Leader Valerie Vaz tore into Government over the move. She told PoliticsHome: "Andrea Leadsom has let the cat out the bag, the Tories will block the Boundaries Bill until they see whether they get the gerrymandered Boundaries they want.
"The House of Commons voted unanimously for this Bill. The Government are trying to use procedural chicanery to block this Bill. It’s undemocratic and an abuse of Parliament. If the Government oppose the Bill they should vote it down."
The 2017 Conservative manifesto vowed to slash the number of MPs to 600 while "enshrining the principle of equal seats".
But critics fear the review will tilt the odds in favour of the Conservatives, and Mr Khan's bill seeks to fix the number of UK constituencies at 650, with a review to be held every ten years.
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