Plenary, 22 Mar 2001

Meeting date: Thursday, March 22, 2001

Official Report 718KB pdf

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Points of Order

Mr Davidson, you had a point of order. Is it a real one?

I do not want to raise my point of order at this time. I will write to you about it.

Thank you. That is very helpful.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer.

Last Thursday, we had 14 points of order. When the Deputy Presiding Officers and I read them carefully, only one of them turned out to be genuine. The others take time out of the business of the chamber and are not fair to other members. If it is a genuine point of order, I will hear it.

I believe that it is a genuine point of order.

Will you confirm that it is quite proper for the Parliament to express an opinion on matters that might be reserved to Westminster? This afternoon, the First Minister perhaps inadvertently gave the impression that although we have no control over the date of the general election, it is also not legitimate for us to express an opinion on it.

You are technically correct. However, the date of an election is certainly a matter for the Prime Minister, not for this chamber.