HC Deb 13 February 1939 vol 343 cc1451-2

7.6 p.m.

Mr. Wedgwood Benn

I have an Amendment on the Paper to Clause 1—the first, not the second Amendment on the Paper. May I ask whether you will give me leave under the Standing Order to explain the reasons for my putting down the Amendment—in page 2, line 13, at the end, to insert: Provided that the request of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom to the Bank of England to advance the said sums without Parliamentary authority shall not be regarded as a precedent.

The Deputy-Chairman

There can be no question about that; consequently the right hon. Gentleman cannot give his reasons.

Mr. Benn

May I refer to Standing Order 28? It states that Mr. Speaker or in Committee the Chairman or Deputy-Chairman may, if he thinks fit, call upon any Member who has given notice of an Amendment. to give an explanation of it. In view of that Standing Order may I be allowed to refer to the Amendment?

The Deputy-Chairman

I have passed over the Amendment, and therefore that means that I did not think fit.

Mr. Benn

But does that mean that the privilege which a Member has under the Standing Order to make a statement is not to be allowed because, if you would permit it, I should like to give one or two reasons why I put the Amendment on the Paper. Then of course, if you decide that it cannot be called, there is an end of the matter, because this is within your power under Standing Order 28. The reason I put the Amendment down was this, that we have for the second time in a year followed the practice of contracting loans without Parliamentary authority, and I put down the Amendment in order to make sure—

The Deputy-Chairman

If I had had any doubt I would have called upon the right hon. Gentleman to make an explanation in the first place.

Mr. Benn

On that point of Order, is the Ruling this, that the Standing Order which was introduced to prevent obstruction and to give the Chair the power to select among many Amendments the best, is to be used to prevent an Amendment being put—a power which aims at preserving what is the fundamental principle of our Debates.

The Deputy-Chairman

I think the Chair is never called upon to discuss the non-selection of an Amendment.

Mr. Benn

But it has been the usual practice of the Chair to permit an hon. Member under the Standing Order to make a statement.

The Deputy-Chairman

I cannot say I quite agree with that, and in any case had I thought fit I would have called on the right hon. Gentleman, and I did not.