TEXT 40: THE SPEAKER'S DUTIES
The Speaker acts as Chairman during debates, and sees that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying on of its business are observed. The Speaker must preserve order in the House, for instance, a Member who makes an allegation against another, or expresses himself in language which the rules do not permit, may be directed to withdraw the remark concerned. In the case of grave general disorder, the sitting may have to be suspended. In the case of willful disobedience by one or more particular Members the Speaker can name* him or them, which will result in their suspension — for a period — from the House. The Speaker has to protect the rights of minorities in the House. He or she must ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their point of view without undue obstruction.
The Speaker does not vote in the House. If, however, there is a tied vote**, the Chair must exercise a casting vote.
The Speaker must, of course, be above party political controversy and must be seen to be completely impartial in all public matters. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker's disinterest and respect that he or she must stand aside from controversy. Even after retirement, a former Speaker will take no part in political issues. Assuming the office of Speaker will to a great extent mean shedding old loyalties and friendships within the House. The Speaker must keep apart from old party colleagues or any one group or interest and does not use, for instance, the Commons dining rooms or bars. The Speaker does, however, continue as a Member of Parliament dealing like any other with constituents' letters and problems.
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* name — назвать по фамилии депутата, нарушившего парламентскую дисциплину
** tied vote — голосование, при котором голоса разделились поровну
TEXT 41: DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
In the House of Commons, Members may speak only from where they were called, which must be within the House: that is, in front of the Chair. They may not speak from the floor of the House between the red lines (traditionally supposed to be two sword-lengths apart). They must stand whilst speaking, but a disabled Member would naturally be allowed to address the House seated.
The style of debate in the House has traditionally been based on listening to other Members' speeches and intervening in them, on spontaneous reaction to opponents' views, often suffused with wit and humour. It is thus very different from the debating style in use in some overseas legislatures, where reading of set-piece speeches from a podium or from individual desks is much more often the norm. This style of debate makes the Commons Chamber a live, rather noisy place, with robustly expressed opinion, many interventions, expressions of approval or disapproval: sometimes of repartee and banter.
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There is, of course, a fine line to be drawn between vigorous debate and forthright expression of views, and the deliberate attempt to intimidate an opponent. Members have the right, when speaking, to be heard without unendurable background noise (deliberate or accidental), and the Chair will call for order if it appears there is an attempt to drown out a Member or, for instance, when a number of Members are leaving the Chamber, or conversing loudly. But successive Speakers have taken care not to bridle the traditional vigour and forthrightness of the expression of opinion in the House, for the style of the House of Commons has never thrived on excessive politeness and restraint.
The profound deference towards Ministers and Prime Ministers apparent in some overseas parliaments is generally lacking in the Commons. To maintain the spontaneity of debate, reading a prepared speech is not allowed.
TEXT 42: UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE
Language and expressions used in the House of Commons must conform with a number of rules. "Good temper and moderation are the characteristics of parliamentary language". Objection has been taken both to individual words and to sentences and constructions — in the case of the former, to insulting, coarse, or abusive language (particularly as applied to other Members); and of the latter, to imputation of false motives, charges of lying or being drunk, and misrepresentation of the words of another. Among the words to which objection has been taken by Speakers over the years have been "blackguard, coward, guttersnipe, hooligan, rat, swine, stoolpigeon and traitor". The context in which a word is used is, of course, most important.
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The Speaker will direct a Member who has used an unparliamentary word or phrase to withdraw it. Members sometimes use considerable ingenuity to circumvent these rules (as when, for instance, Winston Churchill substituted the phrase "terminological inexactitude" for "lie") but they must be careful to obey the Speaker's directions, or being required to withdraw from the Chamber may follow a refusal to retract an offending expression.
The House nowadays allows members of the public (everyone who is not a Member or Officer of the House is a "Stranger") to be present at its debates. This, however, was historically not always the case; and the right to debate a matter in private is maintained. Should it be desired to conduct a debate in private, a Member declares "I spy Strangers", whereupon the Chair must put the motion "That Strangers do withdraw" without debate.
Because the House has not gone into private session since the Second World War, and it is difficult to envisage peacetime conditions when it would be the general will to do so, Members have tended to use "I spy Strangers" as a device of expressing political indignation on a subject or to delay proceedings. If the House did go into private session, no verbatim, sound or television record of that session would be made. In previous times a Member "spying strangers" meant that they had to withdraw automatically. On one famous occasion in the 1880s, Mr Biggar, an Irish Nationalist Member, caused the Prince of Wales to be removed by use of this device.
PART II: FAMOUS LEGAL DOCUMENTS THROUGHOUT HISTORY (EXTRACTS)
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