Ten Minute Rule

The Ten Minute Rule, also known as Standing Order No. 23, is a procedure in the British Parliament for the introduction of Private Member's Bills in addition to the 20 per session normally permissible.

Any MP may introduce a bill under the Ten Minute Rule, although in practice it is only used by backbenchers. To qualify to introduce a bill under the Rule, the MP in question must be the first through the door to the Public Bill Office on the Tuesday or Wednesday morning fifteen working days (three weeks) prior to the date they wish to introduce their bill. Due to the popularity of the Rule and the difficulty in launching a Private Members Bill by other means, MPs have been known to sleep outside the Public Bill Office in order to guarantee a slot.

After question time (around 12:30pm) on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the introduction of bills under the Ten Minute Rule is heard. Whichever MP has reserved the slot may present their bill and is entitled to speak for 10 minutes to convince the house of its merit. After the ten minutes have passed, another MP may speak for a further 10 minutes to oppose the bill. The Speaker then calls a voice vote, and then a division if he believes the bill may have the support of the house.

If the bill is supported by the house, it is added to the register of parliamentary business, and is scheduled along with the other Private Members Bills for a second reading at which it is published as a white paper. The vast majority of Ten Minute Rule bills are not supported by the house, and are dropped immediately. Note that since the first reading of a normal Private Members Bill is a formality, by securing the support of the house on a Ten Minute Rule bill, the MP in question has merely secured it a status equal to that of the 20 normal Private Members Bills.

Since the Government usually opposes Ten Minute Rule bills, it is extremely rare for them to become law. Most Ten Minute Rule introductions are used to stimulate publicity for a cause, especially as the debate follows the media-popular question time, or to gauge the opinion of the house on an issue which may later be introduced in another bill.

A famous bill introduced under the Ten Minute Rule was the Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill in 1999, which provoked a denial of royal approval for its progression to a second reading.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/a-z_of_parliament/t-z/82012.stm BBC A-Z of Parliament]
* [http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/l02.pdf House of Commons FAQs (pdf)]