Debate on Commonwealth Day in Westminster Hall
14 March 2013
On Thursday 14 March MPs debated Commonwealth Day, in a debate led by Sir Alan Haselhurst. Sir Alan Haselhurst made a representation to the Backbench Business Committee to request this debate. This followed a previous representation from Richard Graham.
Commonwealth Day takes place on 11 March.
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 Commonwealth Day
- Commons Hansard: General debate on relating to Commonwealth Day
How the subject was selected
The subject for this debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee following representations by Sir Alan Haselhurst on 5 March 2013.
- Parliament TV: Backbench Business Committee 5 March 2013
- Uncorrected transcript of oral evidence heard on 5 March 2013
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