§ Mr. Willie W. Hamilton (Fife, Central)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will recall that on Friday last the Protection of Military Remains Bill was passed unanimously by the House. All its stages were passed unanimously, which is almost unique in the House. It is dismaying to see on the Order Paper today motion No. 4 in the name of the Leader of the House:
That the Proceedings of 31st January in Committee and on Third Reading of the Protection of Military Remains Bill be null and void.In effect, the Leader of the House is saying that a Bill, which was proposed by the hon. Member for Hampshire, East (Mr. Mates), shall be null and void despite the decision of the House that it should pass all its stages without a single vote.We know that the Government are anxious to get away from Westland to matters of national importance, but is this not carrying things a little too far? The Leader of the House is trying to get a motion passed, presumably without debate, which rescinds the unanimous decision of the House last Friday. It shows contempt towards the House, and I invite the right hon. Gentleman to withdraw the motion and allow the Bill to proceed.
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that I can help the House on this matter. The Bill passed all its stages without notice. Normally, as the House knows, Bills do not pass all their stages in one sitting. I understand that the Bill in question requires a money resolution, which was not on the Order Paper. It will be necessary to move that before the Bill can proceed.