text_body: --- DIVISION TITLE ---
  
  Backbench Business - Ministerial Statements To Be Made to Parliament First
  
  --- MOTION EFFECT ---
  
  The majority of MPs voted to make clear Ministers are expected to make announcements to Parliament first and that serious breaches of the expectation should be investigated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges
  
  The motion rejected by the majority of MPs in this vote was:
  
  :That this House
  :''expects'' Ministers to make all important announcements relating to government policy to Parliament before they are made elsewhere on all occasions when Parliament is sitting;
  :''considers'' that information which forms all or part of such announcements should not be released to the press before such a statement is made to Parliament, as recommended in the [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmproc/602/60202.htm First Report from the Procedure Committee, on Ministerial Statements, HC 602]; and
  :''further considers'' that hon. Members who believe the protocol has been breached should first report this to the Speaker for his judgment and that in the case of a minor breach the Speaker may take appropriate steps but in more serious or more complex cases he would refer the matter to the Committee on Standards and Privileges for further investigation.
  
  --- COMMENTS AND NOTES ---
  
  (put thoughts and notes for other researchers here)
  