HC Deb 26 October 1943 vol 393 cc32-4
Mr. Shinwell

May I ask you, Mr. Speaker, whether it is possible to consider some rearrangement of the procedure that is deemed necessary when the Chief Patronage Secretary asks the permission of the House for the issue of a Writ? Today, when my right hon. Friend asked such permission from the House my hon. Friend the Member for Barnstaple (Sir R. Acland) raised the question of whether it was appropriate to do so at this stage because of the state of the register. I do not enter into the merits of that, but as a result of it there was a Debate and a possibility of a Division, and 20 minutes of Question time were lost. I wondered, if I might venture to make a suggestion, whether you, Sir, might consider whether it would be possible for the Chief Patronage Secretary, or any Whip who might represent him on occasion, to move for the issue of a Writ at the end of Question time instead? I think it would be desirable if the matter were reconsidered.

Mr. Speaker

That is not really a matter for me. I am bound by the Standing Orders. If a Writ is moved, then for a quarter of an hour we may debate the matter. When the quarter hour is up the Motion stands over until after Questions or such other time as the Patronage Secretary may choose to move it. Whether it is a matter for considering amending Standing Orders is one for the House and not for me.

Mr. Woodburn

Further to that point, Mr. Speaker. On a previous occasion you were good enough to extend Question time by the amount of time lost owing to the Debate. Would that be possible even to-day?

Mr. Speaker

That was the first time that objection had been taken to moving a Writ. Therefore I did as a special occasion suspend the length of Question time, but I would suggest to the hon. Member that that was not a very good precedent. Perhaps it might make it even easier to spend time on a normally formal Motion.

Mr. Shinwell

May I then ask the Prime Minister, as Leader of the House, to look at this matter, as it appears to be a matter for the Government and for the House? Will he look at it and perhaps advise the House on some other occasion?

The Prime Minister

I certainly share the general feeling that Question time is one of the most valuable incidents in our Parliamentary routine. I understand that custom and, I believe, the Standing Orders require the Patronage Secretary to move for the issue of a Writ at the moment that he did so. If there was a general wish to reconsider the Standing Order, in order to move these Motions at a different time, say after Questions, the Government would be very ready to consider it, but, of course, it would be at the expense of other Business.

Sir R. Acland

As one of the Members who was responsible for depriving hon. Members of their full Question time—which I immensely regret—may I point out to you, Mr. Speaker, and also to the Prime Minister, that we may reasonably hope that within a very few weeks the occasion for discussing these particular matters in this particular way will no longer be present? Therefore this subject may not require quite so much consideration, as if we had months and months of the present arrangement ahead of us.

The Prime Minister

I am sure there will be very general agreement with those ideas, especially as my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is due almost immediately to take the Floor. It astonishes me all the more that the hon. Member should have thought it necessary, just as everything was going the way he wished, to make this inroad upon our Question time.

Mr. Bellenger

May I put this point to the Prime Minister? Much of the procedure of this House is governed by Standing Orders with which most private Members have very little to do. Is it not possible to arrange, when matters like this do arise, for some expeditious procedure for testing the feelings of the House on a matter which in one case may be only trivial, but on some other occasion may be of much greater importance?

The Prime Minister

As to when the Chief Whip moves the Motion, that is a matter which we might easily discuss and consider, but we must be very careful not to abridge in any way the right of Debate of Members of this House, even when that may cause inconvenience.