§ SIR W. PEARCE (Plymouth)I beg to ask the Patronage Secretary of the Treasury whether he will inform the House how many Members of the Government Party who "paired" at 7 p.m. yesterday voted in the 7.25 p.m. Division, as I know of two. Can the right hon. Gentleman suggest some better arrangement?
§ THE PATRONAGE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. MARJORIBANKS,) BerwickshireI am certainly not able to say how many Members who were paired voted in the Division at 7.25 yesterday. Of course, hon. Members who were paired prior to that hour were not justified in so voting. I am sure that any hon. Member who did so vote did so from inadvertence and not from malice prepense. As a matter of fact, the practice of pairing is not recognised by the House itself. It is purely a question 977 of private arrangement between individual Members, and I am sure that all hon. Members on both sides of the House will wish strictly to adhere to the terms of the pledges they have given.
§ MR. CROSFIELD (Lincoln)May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the two clocks in the Lobby are not synchronised, and that those who, like myself, paired until half-past 7 last night might have voted in the Division at 7.25 if they had gone into the Lobby by the clock which was timed before the other clock?
§ MR. MARJORIBANKSI am sure the hon. Member will excuse me from becoming the corrector of the clocks of the House in addition to my other work.