Member News
By Tony Grew - 25th January 2011
Mr Speaker has declined to confirm that he has received a resignation letter from Belfast West MP Gerry Adams.
The issue was raised on a point of order by Ian Paisley Jr (DUP, Antrim North).
He asked for confirmation that Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, had written to the Speaker indicating his intention to resign.
Paisley asked that Adams not be allowed to breach the rules around MPs resigning their seat.
He asked if the Speaker will reply to Adams and instruct him on the procedure.
Under the Act of Settlement, any member of Parliament accepting an office of profit under the Crown must give up his or her seat.
An MP who wants to resign from the Commons applies to the chancellor for one of two offices that exist just for this purpose: Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham, and Steward of the Manor of Northstead.
Speaker Bercow said that correspondence with him is private and not a matter for discussion on the floor of the House.
On the issue of taking a paid office of the Crown, he told MPs:
"There are procedures to be observed, and observed they must be."
Adams is to stand as a candidate for Dail Eireann at the Irish general election, scheduled for March.
MPs could take matters into their own hands and pass a motion expelling Adams from the Commons, a fate that befell three MPs in the last century.
However, there is nothing in Irish or British law to stop someone from being a member of both the UK and Irish parliaments.
Sinn Fein spokesperson said:
"It's a non-issue from our perspective. He submitted his resignation and that's it."
Eligibility for Dail Eireann.
Disqualifications Act 2000 allows TDs (Irish MPs) to sit in the Commons.
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