U turn if you want to...

A quiet little u-turn seems to have occurred on House of Commons reform.

At the moment the Government has the power to say what is discussed in the Commons and when, giving it obvious political advantages.

When it was grandstanding about parliamentary reform last month ministers seemed as though they were on the verge of letting the Commons schedule its own business.

Obviously, that would have meant the Government giving up its power for the greater parliamentary good.

But then, when setting out the reform motion, Harriet Harman only outlined the scheduling of “non-governmental” business.

That meant Parliament would not get to schedule any of the laws put forward by Government – 85% of what goes through the Commons.

There was uproar among MPs on the reform committee – who felt the Government was finding it too hard to let go of power.

Then today the motion appeared again on the order paper – this time without the words “non governmental”.

It means the Government has backed down and is now prepared to entertain the idea of the Commons scheduling all business.