§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mr. W. Yates) was kind enough to tell me that he wished to make an application to me. This is the moment for it, if he desires to make it.
§ Mr. W. YatesWith your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to move the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 9 on a definite matter of urgent and public importance, namely, the fact that negotiations are at a deadlock over the size and the extent of the future British bases in Cyprus.
I am to address myself to the merits of the case and to show why the House should consider it, and why you should consider it—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member should address himself not to the merits of the case, but to whether or not his Motion is in order under the Standing Order.
§ Mr. YatesI will endeavour to address you, Sir, concerning the Standing Order and whether this Motion comes within that Standing Order.
First, is the matter definite? I think that nothing could be more definite than the report from Reuter last night, which was read by many hon. Members in the House, although it has not been in the Press this morning, that negotiations on the three As, administration, area and aid, have, in fact, come to a deadlock.
Is the matter urgent? I think it is a fact which is known to the House and 1085 to people in Cyprus, as well as to the authorities, that the police force cannot be relied upon in a case of emergency. I think that it is also known to the authorities, as it is certainly known to me, having returned from the island, that Eoka did not hand in their arms, but handed in only a token—quarter strength. It is also known, from one of the district commissioners in the island, in the South, that the Turkish minority have likewise been receiving arms. In view of the fact that the day before yesterday General Grivas, in Athens, said that the President-elect of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, should resign, I consider that the matter is one of urgency.
Whether it is a matter of public importance, considering that we have troops in the island, that it is our main base in the Eastern Mediterranean and that it is the centre of the N.A.T.O. and CENTO military organisations, is for the House and you, Sir, to decide.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member should bring his Motion to the Table.
§ Copy of Motion handed in.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member asks me for leave to move the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 9 on a definite matter of urgent and public importance, namely, the fact that negotiations are at a deadlock over the size and extent of the future British bases in Cyprus.
I am greatly obliged to him for giving me private notice of his intention to do this. That is a great help to me, as it gives me a chance to consider the Motion. But I am afraid that it does not persuade me that I can properly accede to his application at this time. I regret that, owing to the fact of his courtesy, but there it is.
§ Mr. YatesI very much regret to say that the House has no longer the right of impeachment. I myself consider this matter to be grossly mishandled, and I very much regret that the House has lost that power.
§ Mr. SpeakerThose are observations which I could not have allowed the hon. Member to make had I been in time to stop him.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanOn a point of order—
§ Mr. DribergOn a point of order—
§ Mr. SpeakerI will receive these points of order, but I must deal with one hon. Member at a time.
§ Mr. DribergMay I ask you, Mr. Speaker, for the guidance of the House, whether you will be good enough to indicate in what circumstances you would seek to test the feeling of the House on an adjournment Motion of that kind?
§ Mr. SpeakerIf I think that the application to me is in order, then it is my duty to inquire at once whether the hon. Member has the leave of the House and to go through the further process. That is my duty, and I should seek to follow it.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanI have no desire to press you, Mr. Speaker, on the point which has been raised by the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mr. W. Yates) and my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Mr. Driberg), but at the end of his observations to you the hon. Member for The Wrekin expressed the view that this House had lost the power of impeachment. May I ask, for the guidance of the House, whether that is so? It is an idea that has occurred to some of us from time to time as a useful power which the House of Commons ought to exercise rarely and with restraint, but which it ought never to abandon.
§ Mr. SpeakerI think, in fear of encouraging the hon. Member, that I had better look at that.