HC Deb 22 February 1949 vol 461 cc1699-700
Captain John Crowder

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. I desire to ask for your guidance on a matter of which I have given you private notice. Yesterday at Question Time you called Question Number 45 in the name of the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg). He was not in his place and, therefore, did not receive an oral answer. I always understood that in such circumstances, the answer appeared in HANSARD under the heading of "Written Answers." In this case, however, no such answer appears in HANSARD and I should be grateful for your guidance whether this Question may or may not be put down again in the same form as it appeared yesterday?

Mr. Speaker

I also have noticed this omission and have looked at HANSARD myself. The fact of the matter was that the House rose rather early yesterday and the answers did not arrive from the office of the Attorney-General before the House had risen. It has been received now and will appear in HANSARD as a Written Answer in due course. The reason was the early rising of the House. The hon. and gallant Member is perfectly correct. The Question was called, it was not asked and, therefore, the answer goes down as a Written Answer and not as an Oral Answer.