§ Q5. Mr. A. Lewisasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware of the growing practice of Ministers making statements of Government policy to conferences and private meetings outside the House of Commons, while Questions on these subjects are on the House of Commons Order Paper awaiting answer; and whether he will advise Ministers to make such statements to the House of Commons in preference to outside bodies.
§ The Prime MinisterThe answer to both parts of the Question is, "No, Sir".
§ Mr. LewisIs the Prime Minister aware that this is a growing practice? Just before the Whitsun Recess my hon. Friend the Member for Fulham (Mr. M. Stewart) and I had a Question down about the housing policy of the Government. Before the Question was reached, statements were made, and yet on the day on which the Question was due to be answered the Government published—
§ Mr. LewisI am not Profumo. I shall speak up. Tell Profumo to speak up. Before I was rudely interrupted, I was saying that these Questions were on the Order Paper. Two days before they were due to be answered the Minister made statements over the B.B.C. and in the Press which prevented my hon. Friend and myself from asking our Questions. Does not the Prime Minister think that this is sharp practice?
§ The Prime MinisterI had inquiries made, and I found that on this occasion no statement was made to any outside conference or meeting before the copies of the White Paper which the Minister published were available in the House. They were available in the Vote Office at 2.30 p.m., and it was purely fortuitous that there were Questions on this subject on that day. No slight was intended to the hon. Gentleman, and although I do not urge him to speak up, I think that this is a minor grievance on which he would be prepared to lie down.
Mr. H. WilsonWhen the right hon. Gentleman says that copies were available at 2.30, I take it that he means at 2.30 p.m. on the Tuesday of the publication of the White Paper? Can he tell the House why it was that on Sunday, in the Sunday Times and in the News of the World, and on Monday in The Timesand in other papers, there was a full account of every detail that was to appear in the White Paper?
§ The Prime MinisterMy information is that it was announced that the White Paper would be published, but I shall look to see how far anything was said about the White Paper. I have known this all my life, and I really do not think that this is a very serious breach of our ordinary practice.
§ Mr. LewisThat is what I am asking. This is not the first occasion. This has been happening continually. This was given on the B.B.C. officially on the Sunday. With regard to the Prime Minister's last remark to me, I certainly will not lie down with Mr. Profumo or with Miss Keeler.
§ Mr. M. StewartCan the Prime Minister explain why it is that when Ministers decide to make statements in the House there is always, by an extraordinary coincidence, a Question from an hon. 225 Member opposite on that very day, whereas, if hon. Members on this side of the House put down a Question when Ministers are about to make statements, the contents of those statements are somehow leaked to the public before the Questions can be asked by hon. Members on this side? Is this a coincidence every time?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. The hon. Member has been in the House of Commons for a long time. The practice of a Question being put down is a very usual one. If a Minister wishes to make a statement, there is no reason why there should not be a Question on the subject.
,Mr. H. WilsonA number of us have been in the House of Commons for quite a time. Is the Prime Minister aware that this Question does not relate exclusively to a housing statement but to private meetings prior to Government announcements? Has he made inquiries into the case raised recently by a number of us where Government decisions and Government projected policy in respect of the dockyard towns were first communicated to—or tried on by the Minister concerned—a private group of Conservative back benchers representing dockyard constituencies before any statement was made in the House, and that the statement made in the House had to be dragged out of the Government by way of a question about business?
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman is now saying that members of the Government are not allowed to consult members of their party on matters of policy. That is trying to push the privilege of the House too far.
§ Mr. P. WilliamsIs my right hon. Friend aware that there is a genuine difficulty in this matter in respect of Ministers replying to Questions in the House of Commons? I do not want to ask the Prime Minister to make any comment on Question No. Q10 this afternoon, but is not he aware that it is the number and length of supplementary questions, the multiplicity of supplementary questions which are asked by the Opposition—[Hon. Members: "Oh."]—and the contents of those supplementary questions, which are more indicative of giving information, or purporting to give information—[Hon. Members: "Speech."]—which create the difficulty—[Interrup- 226 tion.]—and that if the House could return—[Hon. Members: "Speak up."]—and that if the House could return to the practice—[Interruption.]—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. There must be silence, so that I can give the hon. Member an opportunity of explaining what he has said, in order to discover whether or not it was critical of the Chair.
§ Mr. WilliamsIf I have said anything which can be considered critical of the Chair, Mr. Speaker, I wish to withdraw it. It was not so intended. I wished to ask the Prime Minister whether it was not possible that the House could return to the practice of asking for, rather than giving, information in supplementary questions.
§ The Prime MinisterThese are matters for Mr. Speaker and not for me. All I can say is that I have tried to meet the convenience of the House. Some time ago I was asked whether, instead of having my Questions starting with No. 45—which occasionally reduced the time I had toanswer—I would agree to answer them at a quarter past three, which I willingly did. But I have observed that whereas, beforehand, earlier Questions were sometimes hurried on in order to reach my Questions, the result of the change has been in rather the opposite direction. All I can do is to meet what I thought was the general wish of the House.