§ 51. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Prime Minister if he is aware that Standing Orders Numbers 1 and 2 which relate to Private Members' Bills have been used in such a way as to convert certain Private Members' Bills which the House unanimously has given leave to bring in under the Ten Minutes Rule from unopposed into opposed business; that this conversion frustrates the progress and passage of Private Members' Bills; and if he will move to refer this problem to the Select Committee on Procedure now sitting for consideration and solution.
§ The Prime MinisterWhether or not business is opposed or unopposed must depend upon the attitude of hon. Members at each stage of its progress and I know of no reason why the fact that hon. Members allow a private Member to introduce a Bill unopposed should commit them not to oppose it when it has been published.
I do not see any reason to refer this matter to the Select Committee on Procedure.
§ Mr. HughesDoes not the Prime Minister realise that here is a real wrong which requires to be remedied? Is he aware that by simply saying "I object" any hon. Member who knows nothing of the contents of a Bill, can in that way frustrate a Private Member's Bill which may be, and very often is, a valuable contribution to legislation? Will the Prime Minister look at this matter seriously and not jestingly?
§ The Prime MinisterThe facts are that under the Standing Orders no opposed business, except proceedings exempted in a special way, can be taken after 10 p.m. on ordinary days or 4 p.m. on Fridays. I appreciate the argument of the hon. and learned Gentleman. He says that if leave to introduce has been given under the Ten Minutes Rule, that should preclude any objection at a later stage, but I should have thought not. When a Bill is introduced under the Ten Minutes Rule it is not even published, and I do not think it unreasonable to say that the ordinary rights should apply to such a Bill as to other business which comes at the end of the day's work.