The pre-Christmas story of the House of Commons  

The House rose for the Christmas Recess on December 16th, a week before most employers closed for Christmas. The Conservatives voted against this, as we believed there were important issues that needed addressing before we rose. For example, we have not yet had a debate on the Pre Budget Report – the most important financial statement after the Budget itself. I can see why the Government were not keen to debate it, as it has been taken apart by most financial commentators; but the job of the House of Commons is to hold the Government to account. We will now have to wait until the New Year for that opportunity. I would also like to have had a statement and a debate about the Copenhagen Summit – but we couldn’t, because we rose two days before it ended. And I have been trying to get a debate on Afghanistan, so we can debate our role there against the changing military and...