Cheltenham MP Slams 'Disgraceful' Fuel Poverty Vote

Cheltenham Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood has condemned a parliamentary vote today that saw a backbench Private Member’s Bill on fuel poverty defeated in the House of Commons despite MPs voting overwhelmingly in its favour. Nearly 7,000 people are estimated to be in fuel poverty in Cheltenham and the bill would have mandated energy suppliers to provide so-called ‘social tariffs’ while prompting government to do more to ‘fuel poverty proof’ low income homes with energy efficiency measures.

The bill, promoted by Somerset Lib Dem David Heath MP, failed because of arcane parliamentary rules: private member’s bills are timetabled for debate on Fridays when most MPs are in their constituencies but still require 100 MPs to vote in favour of the ‘closure’ of debate regardless of how many vote against. If this ‘closure’ vote is unsuccessful, ministers are then free to ‘talk out’ the bill. Just before two o’clock today the closure motion was supported by 89 MPs, including Martin and many Lib Dem colleagues, with only two voting against. Following the bizarre parliamentary rules this crushing majority was judged by Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst not to have carried the motion. At 2.30pm Labour minister Joan Ruddock talked out the bill and it was lost.

‘It’s incredibly frustrating’ said Martin, who made the six-hour round journey from Cheltenham just for the vote. ‘If there had been 11 more MPs present, we would have seen an important measure to tackle fuel poverty go through to the next stage. I wish more Labour and Conservative had made the effort to turn up. But the incomprehensible and antiquated rules of the House of Commons don’t help. We need important private member’s bills to be given the same midweek slots that government bills get, and not subjected to these idiotic rules whereby a vote of 89 to 2 is apparently defeated. It would be very funny if the subject hadn’t been so serious.’