§ 47. Mr. BARNSTONasked the Prime Minister if the Chancellor of the Duchy is to be permanently unrepresented in the House; and if no further attempt is to be made to find Mr. Masterman a seat in the House of Commons?
§ 55. Mr. HAYES FISHERasked whether there is any precedent for a Cabinet Minister who is responsible for administering an Act of Parliament and a Department of State which closely affects the lives and liberties of many millions of taxpayers being for some months without a seat in either House of Parliament, and therefore unable to answer to Parliament except through a Junior Lord of the Treasury who has no official connection with the Department concerned; and 1706 whether he will now say what action he intends to take to terminate this arrangement?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThere have been many years in which there was no representative of the Duchy of Lancaster in this House, namely, 1895 to 1902. I think the Insurance Commission is for the time ably represented in this House by my hon. Friend the Member for St. George's-in-the-East (Mr. Wedgwood Benn), and that this arrangement may well continue until the end of the present Session.
§ Mr. BARNSTONCan he not make any effort to secure a seat?
§ The PRIME MINISTERHe has made two already.
§ Mr. WATTHas the time not arrived to jettison Jonah, in view of the fact that nobody seems willing to swallow him but the whale?