Colonel BURN (by Private Notice)asked the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the House whether questions down on the Order Paper on Fridays will, during the Session, be answered by Ministers?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWIt has always been the custom that Ministers should not be expected to answer questions on Friday, for reasons which will be obvious to hon. Members. That custom will be adopted in the present Session.
Sir F. HALLIn view of the increased number of Members in the House and the large number of questions that come on the Paper every day, could not the Government give still further time for questions, say, instead of finishing at a quarter to four, to go on till four o'clock?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI think we should wait a little longer before seriously considering that. There are always a great many more questions at the beginning of the Session than when the steam of the Members has evaporated.
§ Mr. DEVLINWill the right hon Gentleman say what are the obvious reasons for not answering questions on Friday?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWIf I did not think them obvious I should not have used that term. The House meets at twelve o'clock. The questions answered on Friday are those of which notice is given on Thursday—one day. There is little time to get the answers ready in the ordinary course, and to expect them to be ready by noon when Ministers have to be otherwise engaged is really a great hardship that the House should appreciate.
§ Mr. DEVLINIf notice of a question is given on Wednesday is there any reason why there should not be an answer on Friday?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWQuestions could be answered in that case, but the hon. Member knows that Ministers have a great deal of work to do in their Departments. Surely under the circumstances it is too much to ask them to come down at twelve o'clock!
§ Mr. DEVLINIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware that these answers are not written by Ministers at all, but by clerks in the Departments?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThat shows how little some hon. Members know about the matter. Answers to questions make up a considerable part of my labours.
§ Colonel GREIGCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether a Committee of this House, on investigation, found that every question put involved the cost of a guinea to the State?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI know it is something like that; but I know also, in spite of what the hon. Member has said, that it is a very heavy tax on Ministers. For all that, it is one of the valuable privileges of the House of Commons to ask questions, and I should be very sorry to see it stopped.