MPs grow tired of all-night debates

ALL-NIGHT sittings of the Commons, which have been blamed for divorce and illness among MPs, could be a thing of the past before long.

Tony Newton, Leader of the House, is to meet Nick Brown, the Labour spokesman on House of Commons affairs, next week to make progress on reform of the hours in Parliament.

John Smith's death from a heart attack underlined the dangers caused by the strain of life at Westminster.

Backbench MPs and their wives or husbands may breathe a sigh of relief, and women MPs who are bringing up children regard the changes as merely a step in the right direction. But some Northern whips wonder privately what all the fuss is about. MPs, they believe, get off lightly compared to most shift workers.

House of Commons statistics show that MPs spent 19 hours and 50 minutes at prayers in the last session. The Maastricht treaty took a toll on MPs, who spent 210 hours on government bills in a committee of the whole House, compared to 155 hours on second reading debates. The Opposition had 124 hours for its debates, but Labour sources said the Government was seeking to cut Labour's time as part of a deal in reducing the hours the Commons sits.

Michael Heseltine, the President of the Board of Trade, said last week that he felt better dealing with the strain of office than if he was on the sidelines. Many MPs find the long hours less stressful than coping with the big lunches and dinners required of MPs, and the numerous bars around the Commons.

Many Westminster restaurants are on the 'bell' to allow MPs to vote and dine out. But the figures show the House does not sit as late as many believe. Figures given by Mr Newton show that on average it rose at 11.43pm.

The front benches are ready to thrash out a deal over a Commons select committee report which recommended the introduction of morning sittings for backbench business, an end to most debates at 10pm, and more free Fridays to let MPs spend more time in their constituencies.

Progress on the report by a committee chaired by Michael Jopling, a former Cabinet minister, was stalled when Labour withdrew co-operation with the Government over Commons business. But the end of those hostilities has put reform back on the agenda.

The Government had insisted on an 'all or nothing' approach to the select committee report. But the Government has shifted position to allow parts of the report to adopted where there is cross- party agreement.

Labour is objecting to one recommendation to guillotine all legislation to keep it to a strict timetable. But it is now almost certain that the other key recommendations, reducing the time MPs spend at the House, will be implemented.

But there is little prospect of Prime Minister's question time being reformed, in spite of continuing criticism of the twice-weekly 15-minute sessions which have become a tourist attraction.

John Smith favoured stricter rules to open the Prime Minister to detailed questioning on particular subjects. Mr Major supports some reform, but it is not part of the discussions on the Jopling report, and it is unlikely there will be any agreement for changing it. Labour whips believe it would 'let the Prime Minister off the hook'.

Mr Major said he had little taste for the twice-weekly 'artificial confrontation' with the Labour leader across the despatch box.

Paddy Ashdown on Thursday wrote to Mr Major urging him to act. He said Prime Minister's question time had become a cult among young people in Holland 'who regard it as one of the funniest programmes on television. . .

'If we are to make a political impasse, we are all obliged to produce media-friendly soundbites and one-liners, rather than having the opportunity to conduct a debate which really tests the arguments being advanced on each other,' the Liberal Democrat leader said.

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