Modernisation Committee

In the House of Commons debate, the Leader of the House, Lucy Powell, introduced a motion to establish the Modernisation Committee and appoint its members. She explained that the membership of the Committee reflects the proportional representation of parties in the House, as is the case with other Select Committees. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Leader of the Opposition, responded by expressing his surprise that the Leader of the House did not speak to the motion initially. He acknowledged the need for a Modernisation Committee and the significant work it has to do, including addressing issues such as voting and parliamentary hours. Corbyn suggested that the Committee could benefit from the knowledge and experience of members who were elected independently, rather than through party machinery. He asked the Leader of the House if she would consider changing the format of the Committee to include representatives from all the groupings in the House, so that they can contribute to making the House more modern and efficient. The Leader of the House thanked Corbyn for his points and stated that she shares many of the same frustrations, which is why the Modernisation Committee is being established. She explained that during the previous debate, she had made it clear that the Committee would engage meaningfully and continuously with the smaller parties in the House, as their input would be vital to its work. However, she noted that it was not possible to have a formal representative from each smaller party on the Committee, as that would result in an unwieldy size. Instead, the Leader of the House said her approach would be to regularly invite the smaller parties to provide their thoughts and engage with the Committee's inquiries. Jim Shannon, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), followed up on Corbyn's point, expressing the DUP's deep interest in Northern Ireland affairs and inquiring about the representation of his party on the Committee. The Leader of the House responded that it has been a long-standing tradition to have representation from all parties elected from the devolved nations on the relevant Committees, and she did not anticipate any intention to change that. The motion to establish the Modernisation Committee and appoint its members was then put to a vote and agreed.