What is a motion to sit in private?
There are a number of arcane procedures listed in the Standing Orders which have been carried over for hundreds of years. All recent versions and their renumberings are listed there. The 2007 Standing Order 163 (Motions to sit in Private) says: If any MP moves ‘That the House sit in private’ the Speaker shall put the question to a division. Such a Motion may be made no more than once per day. The 2007 Standing Order 41 (Quorum) says: If it should appear that fewer than forty Members have taken part in a division, the business under consideration shall be suspended. (As an aside, the Quorum rule has a second part which says: “The House shall not be counted at any time.” which prevents anyone from putting on record how badly the debate is attended in relation to the number of MPs who lend their weight to the vote when the division bell sounds. It is also made explicit by 2007 Standing Order 39 that “A Member may vote in a division although he did not hear the question put”.) These two ru
