§ Mr. BinghamMr. Speaker, I wish to raise with you a point of order which has caused me personally some concern.
An Amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill which was handed in yesterday, Wednesday, 23rd November, in Standing Committee B, advocating that the courts should have power to sentence young offenders to corporal punishment of all kinds for all crimes of violence bears my name, as does the manuscript Amendment which I saw only shortly before luncheon. I do not know the circumstances in which my signature came to be written. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] It is not my signature. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Nor was it put there with my authority, or even with my knowledge.
In these circumstances, which have caused me some embarrassment, I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the Amendment should stand as though my name had never been there. I wish to add only that I do not want it to be thought that I am opposed to corporal punishment in all cases. In my view—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I cannot allow the hon. and learned Member to make a speech about the topic now. His name will be removed from the Amendment and I hope that I may take the opportunity of reminding hon. Members that before putting names to Amendments they must make sure that the hon. Members concerned have consented.
§ Sir T. Moorerose—
§ Mr. SpeakerI am not going to take up the time of the House by investigating now in the House how that came about in these circumstances.
§ Sir T. MooreOn a point of order. I deeply apologise, Sir. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] An hon. Friend of mine came to the Committee Room yesterday evening when we were discussing this question of this Amendment. Not knowing yet by name all my hon. Friends who came in at the last election, I thought that this name was the name of another hon. Friend of mine, and by mistake, and with the assurance that I should have his name, I put it down. I just made an auricular mistake in the names of my hon. and learned Friend and another hon. Friend.