Mr. ARTHUR HENDERSONMay I ask the Prime Minister the nature of the business to be taken during the present week. No doubt the right hon. Gentleman will also be prepared to make a statement with regard to the nature of the Motion to be submitted to-day, and also whether, as announced in the Press, the Motion to-day is to be treated by the Government as a question of confidence.
§ The PRIME MINISTERAs regards the business this week, I regret to say that I have had no notice of the question, but it is intended to-morrow to move a Resolution taking private Members' time and a Closure Motion on the Budget Resolutions. On Thursday, my 9 right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will open the new Budgetthe Supplementary Budgetand on Friday the Second Reading of the Economy Bill will be moved. With reference to the Motion to-day, I was just about to inform the House as to what the scope of it was to be, and how we desired to know, at the end of the day, whether the Government have or have not the confidence of the House of Commons.
Mr. HENDERSONArising out of the reply which the Prime Minister has given, I would call the attention of the House to the fact that the business on Thursday is to he, as I understand, a statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and no doubt it will be a statement of importance, and probably an extended statement. Is it to be understood that after that statement all the Resolutions which the Government submit have to be disposed of in a single sitting in a crisis like this? [Interruption.] Is it expected that all the Resolutions will be disposed of in a single sitting? Surely that is a very bad beginning, and: I hope the Prime Minister will reconsider the position. It will be most unfair to the Opposition if they are expected to debate these important Resolutions straight away, without following the procedure that is usually followed on Budget day.
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe right hon. Gentleman is quite mistaken. There is no variation of the procedure on Budget Resolutions. The operative Resolutions must be passed that day, as is always the case. If there is any variation at all, it will not be in that particular part of the business. I am very glad that the right hon. Gentleman admits that there is a crisis—[Interruption.]
Mr. HENDERSONI will pass over the taunt about the crisis. [Interruption.] We shall have a full opportunity in the Debate that is to follow to make our statement on that issue. I again ask if the Resolutions are to be disposed of and the Debate restricted to a single sitting, after the extended statement which has been promised from the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe usual way in this business is that the operative 10 Resolutions are dealt with on the first day. [HON. MEMBERS: On the second day."] There is always a Resolution left over, so that the Debate can be continued, and that is the position now.
Mr. HENDERSONThe question I put last was not on the disposing of the Resolutions, but on the curtailment of the Debate. Under the ordinary procedure of the Budget, the Resolutions, it is true, are debated, but the proper debate on the whole of the issues raised by the Budget begins on the following day. I ask if that procedure is going to be departed from?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am sorry that there has been any misunderstanding. The reason why the final Resolution—the undisposed of Resolution—is to be kept open is to enable the Debate to be continued.
Mr. HENDERSONIn the statement of business there was nothing said, in the first instance, about a Resolution being left over to permit of debate. That may have been, an inadvertance. The statement proceeded from Thursday, when we were going to dispose of the Budget Resolutions, to Friday when we were going to have a new Debate on the introduction of the Economy Bill. Will the, Prime Minister now tell us when the Debate of the Budget will be continued if the Economy Bill is proceeded with on Thursday?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI really am very anxious that there shall be no misunderstanding. I assumed that the Budget procedure was known on both sides of the House, and I am very sorry if I did not explain that. May I say that it is always desirable, when questions relating to business are put, that I should receive notice. The business for next week will be announced at the usual time. If the right hon. Gentleman wants to know earlier, I will do my best to inform him, but he really must give me notice.
Mr. HENDERSONOn the point of giving notice, I am anxious, as I have already shown by correspondence with the Prime Minister, to do everything in the proper way, and I can only say that have had no notice from the Prime Minister as to the business for the week.
§ Mr. W. J. BROWNrose—
§ Mr. SPEAKERI understood that the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition desired to put a question to me, on a point of Order, as to the discussion to-day, but we are getting a long way from that subject.
Mr. HENDERSONI am very sorry, Sir. I had to put my question in two parts. The first was to the Prime Minister. The question that I would like to ask you, for the guidance of the House, is with regard to the width of the Debate on the Resolution that may be submitted by the Prime Minister.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe House will realise that we meet in rather exceptional circumstances, and we cannot, therefore, in the procedure which we adopt to meet those circumstances, act entirely according to precedent. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!" and "Why not?"] The reason is that there are no precedents. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that we must be governed very largely by common sense. But, in coming to that conclusion, I do not mean that whatever precedents exist—[HON. MEMBERS: "There are none."]—there may be small points—they should not be followed as nearly as the exceptional circumstances permit.
12 A Message has been received by the House under the Royal Sign Manual. There are various methods of dealing with a situation of that sort. One of those methods is that a Message of that kind should be dealt with by a Motion, for an Address in reply, but such a Motion, under our Rules of Procedure, is not strictly necessary. If hon. Members will look at page 601 of Sir Erskine May, they will find this paragraph:
In the Commons, however, it is not always necessary to reply to Messages under the Sign Manual by Address; as a prompt provision made by that House is itself a sufficient acknowledgment of Royal communications for pecuniary aid.In this case, I propose to treat the Motion for setting up the Committee of Ways and Means as a Reply to the Royal Message. It will be noticed that in the Message, which the House has heard read to-day, reference is made to economies that are to be effected as well as to grants of Supply that are to be made. I do not altogether wish this to be treated as a matter of precedent, but I shall, in these circumstances, allow a full and wide discussion, on the Motion, of the whole situation, instead of confining it, as is customary on such a Motion, to the narrower question of the granting of Supply.