§ Major COLFOXI desire to ask you, Mr. Speaker, whether your attention has 42 been directed to the behaviour of certain Members on Thursday last, both in another place and towards an official of another place, and whether you are prepared to make any statement on the subject to the House?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI regard the incidents to which the hon. and gallant Member for West Dorset (Major Colfox) has referred as a gross indignity to myself as well as to the House as a whole. I am placed here to protect the rights of this House. But before rights come duties, among which not the least is courtesy. Members will realise my sense of shame at the breach of courtesy to an officer of Parliament, bringing a Message to this House, and my deep regret, which T. know is shared by the House, for the further discourtesy when I attended in the House of Lords.
The Standing Orders do not give me power to deal with such incidents, but the final words of Standing Order 18 reserve the right of the House to deal with the conduct of its Members in other ways, and if there should be any repetition of Thursday's incidents, I shall not hesitate to ask the House to take adequate action
§ Major COLFOXWill you, as Speaker of this House, take the earliest opportunity of publicly expressing to their Lordships' House the very profound regret which is felt by 95 per cent. of the Members of this House for the unmannerly occurrences of last Thursday?
§ Mr. W. THORNEYou want Mr. Speaker to go on his belly!
§ Mr. SPEAKERI do not think it necessary to add anything to what I have just said.
§ Major COLFOXMay I ask whether there is any chance for this House publicly to apologise to their Lordships' House?
§ Mr. HARDIEGet down on your hands and knees!
§ Mr. SPEAKERI said what I had to say in the name of the House as well as of myself.
§ Mr. LAWSONAs one who was standing at the Bar of the other House something like two hours before any of those incidents which you have men- 43 tioned, concerning the reception of Black Rod in this House, occurred, and as one who took some part in interjections in the other House, may I say that the noble Lords in the other House seem to have forgotten the fact that that they were dealing with standards of life—
§ Mr. SPEAKERI have been very careful to deal only with matters which concern ourselves in this House.
§ Mr. LAWSONMay I say, very emphatically, that the conduct of the noble Lords in the other House in this very serious business with which they were dealing was positively indecent, and under similar circumstances I would repeat the protest.
§ Mr. SPEAKERWe can deal here only with our own affairs.
§ Mr. STEPHENArising out of your ruling, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask you if, when Black Rod comes to this House, this House has no opportunity or right to say whether or not it shall receive Black Rod at the time?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI do not propose adding to what I have said to the House.
§ Mr. STEPHENIs it not implicit in the very fact that Black Rod knocks at the door of this House that this House has the right to say whether or not Black Rod shall be admitted, and the constitutional liberty of Members—
§ Mr. SPEAKERIf there should be any interference with the liberties of this House, I will protect them.