HC Deb 24 April 1961 vol 639 cc36-7
Mr. Fletcher

May I ask your guidance, Mr. Speaker, about an entry which appears in the OFFICIAL REPORT for last Friday, 21st April? In column 1609 there is a record of a Division which was called on an Amendment moved by the hon. Member for Tiverton (Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop) to the Carriage by Air Bill. The Amendment is recorded as having been lost, and the record shows that there voted for the Ayes 29 and for the Noes 30. Then it appears that the hon. Gentleman the Member for Worcestershire, South (Sir P. Agnew) and the hon. Gentleman the Member for Hendon, North (Mr. C. Ian Orr-Ewing), the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, curiously enough, voted for both the Ayes and the Noes.

It may, of course, be that there is an error in the record. I was myself in the Ayes Lobby and noted both those hon. Members there. If, therefore, the entry of their having voted for the Noes, as one must assume, is incorrect, the result, of course, is that the Amendment, instead of having been lost, was carried.

It did seem to me that in those circumstances you might wish to investigate the matter so that, if one was right in one's conclusion, the House might have another opportunity of coming to a decision.

May I add this? If, on the other hand, it be the case that both those hon. Members voted in both Lobbies, then, while that would be an inconvenience, to say the least, at all times, it must be particularly confusing on such a narrow vote, and, of course, if it became habitual it would affect the question whether a quorum was present when votes of this kind in a small House were taken.

Mr. Speaker

Yes, I follow that one. I think that it may be that the hon. Member is a bit more lucky than some of us. I have recollections in the past of such things as this happening. The position is that we cannot have any personal explanations about this, because no application has been made to me to make them. It is, I think, an acknowledged practice that if an hon. Member inadvertently votes in the wrong Lobby—and that has, I think, happened—and if he has time to do so, he can cure his error by going through the other Lobby also, in which case the matter appears in the OFFICIAL REPORT as it appears here. I think that there is no more sinister explanation to be attached to what the hon. Member has found, but I am obliged to him for raising it.