§ Sir A. KNOXI wish to ask you, Mr. Speaker, a question of which I have given you Private Notice, whether it is in accordance with precedent that Members of a Joint Select Committee should engage in political controversy with regard to the subject of inquiry by that Committee, either on the platform or in the Press, during the period from their nomination to the Committee till its final report?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIn reply to the hon. and gallant Member, it appears to me that no question of precedent can or does arise. Moreover, there are no records giving information as to the political activities of Members serving on a Joint Select Committee. Nor is it possible to lay down 'any rules for the action of Members serving on Joint Select Committees, even if it was within my province to do so. Whatever I say can only be addressed to Members of this House serving on a Committee. All I can say on the point which the hon. and gallant Member has raised is that the matter must be left to the individual discretion of Members of a Committee.
§ Sir A. KNOXWith great deference, can you not, out of your wide and long experience on the subject, give some 1018 guidance to the House on the matter? Is it in order that a Member selected to act in a judicial capacity on a Committee of this kind should, between the sittings of that Committee, take part in political controversy on the platform on a subject that the Committee has been set up to decide?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIn my somewhat long experience of matters in this House I have never come across a case where Mr. Speaker has given advice to Members serving on a Joint Select Committee, and I do not propose to do so now.