The UK parliament is one of the oldest continuous representative assemblies in the world, having existed in some form since the middle ages.
And given its long history, it is perhaps no wonder that it has more than a few strange and outdated rules that MPs and Lords are still required to follow.
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle fell foul of one of those rules this week when he said that he would “prefer to be led by a lawyer than a liar” during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
“My constituents think that [Boris Johnson] lied to this House and my constituents think that he lied to them when he was partying,” said Russell-Moyle. “So, I would prefer to be led by a lawyer than a liar. Will he now resign?”
Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle asked him to withdraw the comment, as calling a fellow MP a “liar” is in breach of parliamentary rules – just one of many oddities that make up proper parliamentary etiquette and conduct.
Unparliamentary language
“Liar” is not the only unacceptable insult. In fact, most unpleasant words or terms – deemed “unparliamentary language” – are banned from the chamber.
As parliament’s rules state, there is no “hard and fast list of unparliamentary words” and a breach of the rules is determined by the “context” in which it is said. But there are several that have been branded as “unparliamentary” over the years, including calling a fellow MP a traitor, hypocrite, drunk, blackguard, coward, guttersnipe, idiot, pipsqueak, squirt, stool pigeon, swine, traitor or wart.
MPs who use unparliamentary language are generally asked to withdraw their comments. If they refuse, they can be asked to leave the chamber and possibly face suspension.
Perhaps the most infamous example of a parliamentarian attempting to sidestep the rules on “unparliamentary language” came when former Labour MP Dennis Skinner said in the Chamber that “half of the Tories opposite are crooks”.
Asked to withdraw the comment, Skinner said: “Okay, half the Tories opposite aren’t crooks.”
Naming names
It is a rule that may sound like “part of a bad drinking game”, said The Independent. “But it’s true.”
MPs are not allowed to refer to each other by name and instead have to say “the honourable member for” followed by the constituency they were elected to. MPs can also refer to each other as “the honourable gentleman” or “the honourable lady”.
Members who are from the same party can refer to each other as “my honourable friend”, while members of the privy council are called “the right honourable”. The only exception to the rule is the Speaker, who “can refer to anyone he likes by name”.
Addressing the Speaker
When MPs rise to speak in the House of Commons, they are only allowed to directly address the Speaker, either Lindsay Hoyle or one of his three deputies.
MPs never address their colleagues directly, instead, they direct their arguments or statements to either “Mr Speaker” or “Madam Speaker”. They refer to their fellow MPs as “he” or “she” instead of “you” when referring to opponents or colleagues in a debate.
It is a convention “designed to keep things civil and stops just anyone speaking when they feel like voicing their opinion”, said The National. The rule is generally “carried out in parliaments around the world”.
MPs often “chat and whisper to each other on the backbenches”, said The Independent. However, parliamentary rules require that only one person can speak at a time, meaning gossiping MPs are often chastised in the chamber by the Speaker.
Royal silence
This is a rule Labour leader Keir Starmer fell foul of at a recent PMQs when asking a series of questions over alleged Downing Street parties.
“Last year, Her Majesty the Queen sat alone when she marked the passing of the man she had been married to for 73 years,” said Starmer. “She followed the rules of the country that she leads.
“The prime minister has been forced to hand an apology to Her Majesty the Queen. Isn’t he ashamed that he didn’t hand in his resignation at the same time?”
It led to an intervention from Hoyle, who said: “We normally would not, and quite rightly, mention the Royal Family. We don’t get into discussions on the Royal Family.”
According to the official parliamentary procedure guide: “No question can be put which brings the name of the Sovereign or the influence of the Crown directly before Parliament, or which casts reflections upon the Sovereign or the royal family.”
“Unless it’s a question specific to how taxpayer cash is used to support the royal household,” said Holyrood, “you can’t ask about it because it might sway MPs.”
The other House
During debates in the Commons, MPs never mention the second chamber – the House of Lords – by name. Similarly, the House or Lords never refers to the Commons by name. Instead, they each refer to the other House as “the other place” or “another place”.
A House of Commons paper on its traditions and customs calls this practice a “nineteenth century development” that was “more often used in the Lords than in the Lower House at that time”.
Kidnapping MPs
At the opening session of parliament, an MP is “kidnapped” and held hostage at Buckingham Palace while the Queen’s Speech is read.
The tradition “comes from a time when the monarchy had a difficult relationship with parliamentarians”, the BBC said, and the MP would therefore “be used as a bargaining tool in case the King or Queen were threatened during their time in Westminster”.
