§ 16. Sir Irving Alberyasked the Home Secretary whether he will move for the appointment of a small Committee of the House to assist him in reviewing cases of detention under Regulation 18B?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonMy predecessor and I have had the advantage of the assistance of very able Advisory Committees, which have acquired considerable experience of dealing with these cases, and 1086 I do not think there would be any advantage in making the change suggested.
§ Sir I. AlberyIn view of the fact that under this Regulation the right hon. Gentleman is empowered to arrest and detain Members of the House, is it not desirable to appoint such a Committee so that the House may share to some extent in the responsibility?
§ Mr. MorrisonThat problem is not yet extensive, but in any case I should doubt whether it would be wise to appoint a Select Committee on a basis of party representation to perform what is essentially a judicial function.
§ Sir I. AlberyIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that there are already in existence several Select Committees which work quite impartially along non-party lines?
§ Mr. MorrisonI make no suggestion to the contrary, but I think it would be really difficult if such a committee had to deal with the case of a Member of the House. It would be embarrassing to the Committee and would involve the situation that the Minister concerned would not be responsible to the House.