Debate on Bulgarian and Romanian immigration e-petition
22 April 2013
On Monday 22 April, MPs participated in a debate in Westminster Hall on an e-petition relating to Bulgarian and Romanian immigration. The debate was scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee following a representation from Mark Pritchard
Watch the debate and read a transcript
Watch the debate on Parliament TV and read the views expressed by MPs in Commons Hansard.
- Parliament TV: General debate relating to an e-petition on Bulgarian and Romanian immigration
- Commons Hansard: General debate relating to an e-petition on Bulgarian and Romanian immigration
E-petition debate
The Committee used its powers to convene a sitting in Westminster Hall on a Monday afternoon from 4.30 – 7.30 pm on the subject of an e-petition
The debate related to the e-petition entitled ‘Stop mass immigration from Bulgarian and Romanians in 2014, when EU restrictions on immigration are relaxed’
How the subject was selected
The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee following representations by Mark Pritchard. At the public meeting on 5th February, Mark Pritchard, Nigel Dodds, Hywel Francis, Kelvin Hopkins and Ian Swales made a representation to the Committee for a debate on EU migration: extending transitional border controls beyond 31 December 2013 for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.
Backbench Business Committee
The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays at 3pm to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject, including those raised in e-petitions or national campaigns.
An MP must make a representation before the Committee for an e-petition or petition to be debated; e-petitions exceeding the Government's 100,000 signature threshold are not automatically allocated backbench time.
The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee's meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.