The most recent Meeting of the Mercian Parliament House, held on the 5th July, saw Baron Ó Cathail’s National Liberal government decisively topple the first major piece of legislation tabled by the Loyal Opposition. The 6th June Christian Delegation Referendum Bill, were it to pass, would cause a referendum to be held across the entire Mercian nation to ask whether the Mercian Christian Church, the state church of the country, should be allowed to have an unelected delegate of its Synod in the Mercian Parliament Cabinet. This act of questioning the Christian traditions of the Mercian nation went strongly against the policy pledges made by the National Liberal Party (NLP) during the May 2015 General Election campaign, so the government and the Würtige Unionist Party (who share similar policies in regards to the church in Mercia) voted against the bill in force.
Over the course of two weeks, Members of Parliament voted on the Christian Delegation Referendum Bill. Out of 12 potential votes, those being of the 11 elected MPs and the 1 Crossbencher MP, Marquis Cassidy (who is also Convenor of the Crossbench and Speaker of the House), only 3 votes were in support of the bill, with 6 against and a further 3 voters not voting, those being Earl Emmanuel of the NLP, who was absent during voting, Duke Lobao of the Würtige Unionists who is currently absent for an extended period of time, and Baron Chahal the Independent Liberal Democrat, who does not currently have access to Parliamentary venues for technical reasons. Therefore, with 6 oppositions and only 3 supports, the Christian Delegation Referendum Bill was defeated, and the first major spearhead by the Humanist People’s Alliance as the Loyal Opposition was blunted. It is believed that the Speaker of the House voted in favour of the bill.
After the Christian Delegation Referendum Bill failed, the floor was opened to the debut session of First Minister’s Questions. Only one question was asked, by the Leader of the Opposition, Baron Newton of the Humanist People’s Alliance, who questioned First Minister Ó Cathail’s motives for opposing the controversial piece of legislation:
“After the results of the Vote towards the June 6th Christian Delegation Referendum Bill has shown a primary opposition from the Government Bench, I’d like to ask the First Minister for his parties reasoning for opposing the bill I motioned in this house, as it would very much give him and his government the chance to campaign in favour of keeping the Synod Rep in Government.”
First Minister Ó Cathail’s response reflected previous debates on the bill in the Parliament House, as he defended the democratic element of opposition to the bill:
“As I pointed out to the Leader of the Opposition in the last Meeting of Parliament, my own and my government’s reasoning for opposing your bill is due to our strong belief in retaining traditions which have defined the nation we are and the way it is run. It is not in any way to be interpreted as an opposition to the democratic process. However, I do not believe we were depriving anyone of their voice, given the fact that most Mercians do not believe, as shown in a recent poll, that it is necessary to remove the position of a Synod Representative. A referendum would only confirm these sentiments, and thus would be unnecessary. I would be happy, however, to debate the merits of your bill at a later date, as it would seem it is a priority of your party.”
During the 5th July Meeting, voting also began on legislation from both sides of the floor. From the National Liberals came the 28th June 2015 Agricultural Gorsedh Bill, which would establish a new Gorsedh in Mercia for the authorisation and maintenance of agricultural policy and the actual growth and distribution of vegetables and other plants in the country. From the Humanists came the 27th June 2015 Copyright Bill, which seeks to protect intellectual property of Mercian citizens for leases of up to a year at a time, as well as rules for transferring copyright from one individual to another legally. Currently the Agricultural Gorsedh Bill has 4 votes in support, and the Copyright Bill has 5. Neither bill has any votes in opposition, although they shan’t be passed or ratified until the House meets again on the 12th July.