Last orders for traditional parliamentary papers

The Commons Order Paper looks set to be replaced by a "daily agenda" of the business in Parliament.

MPs agreed yesterday that the traditional document was "very difficult to understand" and should be ditched. They want to see the Order Paper, the white document famously waved by enthusiastic backbenchers in the Chamber, replaced after the summer break. The document, which includes all the questions tabled to ministers, as well as the timetable for legislation and committee meetings, often baffles tourists, who are given a copy when they visit the Commons public gallery.

The daily agenda would "clearly set out the expected business and timetable for the day in Parliament". Subject to the approval of the Speaker, Betty Boothroyd, it will be introduced in October when the Commons returns. The last traditional Order Paper would therefore appear on Thursday, when the house rises. The move is one of the reforms suggested yesterday in a report by the Modernisation Committee, chaired by Ann Taylor, the Leader of the Commons.