§ At five minutes to three o'clock, the time appointed by the new Rule for the interruption of Questions, thirty-eight of the Questions on the Paper had been asked and replied to, and sixteen others, the majority of which were addressed to the First Lord of the Treasury, remained unanswered.
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! It being now five minutes to three o'clock, it is my duty, under the new Rule, to interrupt Questions.
§ MR. DILLONAs this is the first occasion on which Questions have been interrupted under the new Rule, I wish to ask what becomes of the starred Questions on the Paper which have not been reached. Will they be postponed till tomorrow, and then have precedence?
§ MR. SPEAKERThat is provided for in the Rule.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLMay I, as a point of order, call attention to the fact that Mr. Speaker has been called to the Bar of the House of Lords, and that, as a consequence, Question time has been encroached upon for several minutes.
§ MR. SPEAKERThat is not a point of order. I am quite aware of the fact that I was called to the Bar of the House of Lords. I may say that Questions not answered by reason of the absence of Ministers can now be put.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.On the point of order, according to my recollection, this case was considered in the discussion of the Rule. It was felt that, at all hazards, we should avoid an accumulation of Questions carried over from day to day, and that each day should dispose of the day's starred Questions, either by oral answers or by printed answers in the Votes.
§ MR. SPEAKERI think I must correct my previous statement. I had not looked at the Rule when the Question was addressed to me, but having done so now, I must say I think the right hon. Gentleman is right in his interpretation of the Rule, and that the answers to Questions not reached by five minutes to three must be printed and circulated with the Votes.
§ MR. DILLONI beg most respectfully to differ from the right hon. Gentleman as to his interpretation of the intention of the House.
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The question is not whether the right hon. Gentleman is right in his interpretation of the intention of the House, but whether I am right in the construction of the Rule.
§ MR. DILLONSeeing, Sir, that you gave a different ruling in the first place, would it not be reasonable under the circumstances to give hon. Members the privilege of postponing starred Questions till to-morrow? Your interpretation comes as a complete surprise to many of us. Evidently it will be necessary to give notice at the Table before Questions are called.
§ MR. SPEAKERI am bound by the Standing Orders; but, if I had discretion in the matter, and as this is the first time the difficulty has arisen, I would be glad to say that these Questions might, on this occasion, as the hon. Member suggested, be put down for tomorrow. But that cannot be done under the Standing Order.
MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)said he would like to call attention to the wording of the Rule. It was to the effect that in certain circumstance the Minister should cause the answer to be printed, unless the Member had signified his desire otherwise. The point was, when must that desire be intimated?
§ MR. SPEAKERI can only adhere to the view I have already expressed.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLasked whether a Member when giving notice of a Question at the Table could not intimate to the Clerks that if it were not reached it should be postponed instead of the answer being printed. Further, he inquired whether the Questions to the First Lord could not be taken.
§ MR. SPEAKERNo, that cannot be done. The Questions must be taken in their order until five minutes to three.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLWith great respect to you, Sir, the Standing Order does not prescribe any order for the Questions, and those addressed to the First Lord are put last as a matter of convenience.
§ MR. SPEAKERThe fact remains that the time allotted for Questions having expired, those addressed to the First Lord must be dealt with in the same manner as the other Questions. I can make no exception.
§ SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN (Stirling Burghs)I wish to ask you whether there was any warning given on behalf of the properly constituted authorities, whoever they may be, that the presence of this House would be required in the House of Lords, and if it would be possible to arrange so that such a step should not be taken on a day when there are a number of important Questions which might be prevented from being answered.
§ MR. SPEAKERThe usual practice has been followed in this case—that is to say, a notice is sent to me, either on the day or the day before—I received it in the present case this morning—that there would be a Commission at two o'clock. I should hope that those who make the arrangements would endeavour as far as possible to arrange that a Commission should be taken on a day when it is likely that only a few Questions will be set down.
§ Mr. WILLIAM REDMONDI desire to ask for information on this question. May I inquire whether, if an hon. Member puts down a Question and by starring it thereby indicates that he requires a verbal answer to it, and it is not reached by five minutes to three, he is precluded from putting down that question as a starred Question for any other day? I would also ask whether an hon. Member is not at liberty, by giving notice when he puts the Question down, that if it is not reached by five minutes to three he prefers to have it answered verbally the next day, to have that done?
§ MR. SPEAKERCertainly an hon. Member cannot get round the Standing Order in that way. As to the first part of the hon. Member's Question, I can only repeat that the answer will be printed, and, if it is printed, the Question will be in exactly the same position as if it had already been asked and answered in this House. It cannot be put down again.
§ Mr. WILLIAM REDMONDBut what I want to know is this. There may be a particular Question, which for sufficient reasons an hon. Member may desire to have verbally answered. Is he prevented for ever from getting that verbal answer if the Question does not happen to be reached before five minutes to three on the day on which he puts it down?
§ MR. SPEAKER"For ever" is a long time. I cannot add anything to what I have already said, viz., that if the answer is printed with the Papers, the Question will be in exactly the same position as one which has been answered in the House. †