{"id":5611,"date":"2017-07-27T15:32:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T15:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=5611"},"modified":"2017-07-27T15:32:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T15:32:51","slug":"speaker-tells-mps-stop-reading-newspapers-and-having-refreshments-in-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/speaker-tells-mps-stop-reading-newspapers-and-having-refreshments-in-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker tells MP’s stop reading newspapers and having refreshments in parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Speaker Sir Gerald Watt has told Members of Parliament to refrain from breaching the Standing Orders by reading newspapers and having refreshments while the house is in session.<\/p>

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Sir Gerald told the start of an emergency meeting of the parliament that section 40 B of the rules is being breached.<\/p>\n

“A member present in the house during a debate shall not read books, newspapers, letters or other documents…”<\/p>

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The speaker told the Lower House that only documents relating to the business of parliament are permissible.<\/p>

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“It should not be done. It is not right,” Watt told MP’s.<\/p>\n

“It’s not as if you having a little look in your lap. Persons have the newspapers infront the camera.”<\/p>

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He then pointed his attention to section 53 1 of the rules which speaks to “refreshments” being brought into the house during the sitting.<\/p>\n

“I have noticed that people saunter out with a cup of coffee or tea or God knows what. I mean the point is no refreshments in the house,” Sir Gerald warned.<\/p>

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He said standing order 71 which speaks to notice of absence must also be adhered to.<\/p>

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The speaker said some members are coming to the house but leaving without indicating that they are not returning.<\/p>\n

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House Speaker Sir Gerald Watt has told Members of Parliament to refrain from breaching the Standing Orders by reading newspapers and having refreshments while the house is in session. Sir Gerald told the start of an emergency meeting of the parliament that section 40 B of the rules is being breached. “A member present in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaker tells MP's stop reading newspapers and having refreshments in parliament - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/speaker-tells-mps-stop-reading-newspapers-and-having-refreshments-in-parliament\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaker tells MP's stop reading newspapers and having refreshments in parliament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"House Speaker Sir Gerald Watt has told Members of Parliament to refrain from breaching the Standing Orders by reading newspapers and having refreshments while the house is in session. 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