§ Mr. SpeakerI undertook, at the request of the Leader of the Opposition and other right hon. Gentlemen yesterday, to give consideration to the implications of my Ruling upon a question asked yesterday by the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. G. M. Thomson). I have done so. I hope that the House will allow me a moment to ensure that the matter is properly understood.
There are two rules which the House has, both of which I have to enforce. The hon. Member for Dundee, East was asking a question. In a question it is out of order to introduce the names of persons invidiously—that is the first matter—and, secondly, it is out of order, in a question, to reflect upon the character or conduct of, inter alios, Members of this House.
On the first rule to which I referred, I think that there is no doubt that the hon. Member's question was out of order. With regard to the second one, the House will recall that this House has resolved in these terms:
That it is contrary to the usage and derogatory to the dignity of this House that any of its Members should bring forward, promote or advocate in this House any proceeding or measure in which he may have acted or been concerned for or in consideration of any pecuniary fee or reward.478 I considered that as the hon. Member referred to had just been intervening and had referred in his intervention to his Parliamentary conduct, that the words used by the hon. Member for Dundee, East carried an implication of unparliamentary conduct. The hon. Member, with his usual courtesy, at the earliest possible moment intervened and said that he never had such an intention at all. The House would understand anyhow, but I should like to make it plain to everybody here and outside that I absolutely and completely accept that assurance and feel no possible doubt about it.On the other hand, that does not help me, because I have to rule on what I conceive to be the meaning of the words in their context, regardless of the intention of the person speaking them at the time. Hon. Members will understand, and I want to emphasise, that I was not making any general Ruling. I was ruling upon my conception of the meaning of those words in a question, in the context in which that question was asked, and nothing else at all, and I do not intend to make a general Ruling about it.