HC Deb 07 March 1884 vol 285 cc875-7
MR. M'COAN

said, he desired to take the opinion of the Speaker on a point of Order, which not merely affected himself, but concerned also every private Member in the House. It would be in the recollection of the House that yesterday he put a Question on the Notice Paper with regard to the conduct of our Agent in Egypt, in connection with the suppression of a French newspaper published in Cairo. After he had asked his Question another hon. Member opposite rose, and asked leave to couple with it another Question to the noble Lord the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice) with reference to another paper. The noble Lord, in a manner which it was not for him (Mr. M'Coan) to call evasive, answered the Question put by the hon. Member opposite; but when he had done so he sat down, without giving a reply to his (Mr. M'Coan's) first Question. He (Mr. M'Coan) then, as respectfully as he could, asked for a reply to his own Question; but the noble Lord sat in what, if the adjective were not un-Parliamentary, he might call contumacious silence. Therefore he had no choice but to rise and give Notice that he would repeat his Question to-day. Half-an-hour after he handed the Question to the Clerk at the Table, and expected to see it on the Notice Paper. To his surprise, he found that the Question had not been put on the Paper; and, from what he had been able to ascertain on inquiry, it appeared that after he had handed the Question in, the Clerk had communicated with the noble Lord to know whether it would be convenient for him to answer it, and, the noble Lord's reply being that it would not be officially convenient for him to do so, the Question was suppressed. Apart from any question of courtesy or respect to hon. Members, it appeared to him that the matter was one so much affecting the rights and privileges of Members that he had no choice but to ask the Speaker for his ruling.

MR. SPEAKER

I was not aware of the specific point to be brought to my notice by the hon. Member for Wicklow County (Mr. M'Coan). If the hon. Member complains that the noble Lord did not answer a Question put to him by the hon. Member, I have to say that it is within the province of any Member of the Government to decline to give an answer to any Question put to him, if he considers that course to be in the interests of the Public Service; and in that case the responsibility for so declining rests entirely with the Member of the Government. If the hon. Member complains of any action taken by the Clerk at the Table, I am informed that what passed was, that the Question was handed in the ordinary form and presented to the Clerk at the Table; and I would remind the hon. Member that any Question so put in becomes the public property of the House, and is entitled to be seen by any Member of the House. I am assured that nothing more passed between any Clerk at the Table and the noble Lord than that the Clerk simply handed the Question to the noble Lord for information, which it is conducive to the interest of Public Business should be given, and which greatly facilitates the labours of this House.

MR. M'COAN

One remark, Sir, in partial correction of your views. My appeal to you was not intended as a complaint against the Clerks at the Table, to whose courtesy I am constantly indebted, but was intended to bring to your knowledge that which I think was an interference with the usual practice, the suppression of my Question. I do not complain that the Notice of the Question was communicated to the noble Lord, although I see a connection between its communication to him and its non-appearance on the Paper; but I wish to ask you, was it competent for the Clerk to suppress a Question which had been already printed, and has appeared on the Paper?

MR. SPEAKER

It would have been very convenient if the hon. Member had communicated with me beforehand as to the exact point he has to complain of, because his Question now comes on me by surprise. If the Question handed in by the hon. Member was substantially the same——

MR. M'COAN

Identically.

MR. SPEAKER

Identically the same with that which was previously asked, and which the noble Lord declined to answer, I am not prepared to say an identical Question can be repeated.

MR. M'COAN

He did not decline to answer the Question, but sat down without making any reply at all.