§ Sir Ian FraserMr. Speaker, I beg leave to ask you a question of which I have given you notice: if arrangements can be made to publish on the Order Paper the name of a Member of this House who takes his name off a Notice of Motion to which he has previously given support.
§ Mr. SpeakerWhat happens now is this: all Notices of Motion for an early day are filed in the Table Office, where is also kept a list of all hon. Members whose names were attached to the original Notice of Motion and of hon. Members who added their names subsequently. When an hon. Member instructs the Table Office that he wishes to withdraw his name from a Motion, the Clerks in the Table Office delete his name from the list. No machinery at present exists for publishing the names of hon. Members who have so withdrawn their names. If a general desire exists that names withdrawn should be published, this could be done by a memorandum at the end of the Votes and Proceedings.
§ Sir I. FraserWhile thanking you for that answer, Mr. Speaker may I submit that the act of supporting a Motion is a public act of an hon. Member in his capacity as a Member and may influence the country and his constituents; that consequently, the act of withdrawing support is an equally important public act, and that some means should be found whereby information of that act can be available not merely to Members of this House, but to constituents and to the country as a whole.
§ Mr. Frank McLeavyMay I also raise a point which arises from that made by the hon. Gentleman: what is the position of a Member of this House who signs a Motion under a misapprehension or, in some cases, under a misrepresentation of the position and then withdraws his name?
§ Mr. SpeakerI do not think this is the right moment for debating this matter which, no doubt, can be pursued through the usual channels and the general opinion of Members ascertained. If I might say so—if it is not an impertinence on my part—I should advise hon. Members always to be very careful in what they sign.