PRIVY COUNCIL (Hansard, 27 June 1963)

§ Q2. Mr. A. Lewis
asked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to determine the conditions upon which persons appointed to the Privy Council after having held office in the United Kingdom may continue to be members of the Council, and to provide for cessation of membership.

§ Q4. Mr. W. Hamilton
asked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to define the conditions upon which persons subject to the constitutional law of the United Kingdom may remain members of the Privy Council, and to provide for retirement from the Council.

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir.

§ Mr. Lewis
Is the Prime Minister aware that he wrote to me asking me, when this Question was originally down on Tuesday, to postpone the Question because he wanted to give the Answer on Thursday? Before that he said that he intended to ask the Deputy Prime Minister to reply. 1650 It was at his suggestion that the Question was postponed. Why could not the Deputy Prime Minister have given this Answer on Tuesday, as the Prime Minister at first suggested?

§ The Prime Minister
Because the matter was still under consideration. A submission had been made to Her Majesty which she was graciously pleased to approve, and the matter has been dealt with. I should have thought that the House would like to leave the matter there.

Hon. Members
Hear, hear.

§ Mr. Hamilton
Whilst I am sure that the whole House would hope that the circumstances which prompted this Question will never occur again, does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that it would be better if the Government took power whereby the initiative in these matters rested with them rather than with the erring member of the Privy Council?

§ The Prime Minister
I think that the House would probably feel that it is best to leave the matter now where it is.

§ Mr. Shinwell
In view of the desire of some hon. Members that certain Privy Councillors should renounce their membership of the Privy Council, is the Prime Minister aware that in this assembly there exists at least a majority of hon. Members who are dying to become Privy Councillors?

§ Sir R. Cary
Would it not be infinitely better to leave the ancient traditions of appointment to the Privy Council completely unchanged?

§ The Prime Minister
That is why this took a little time. Mr. Profumo wrote on 13th June asking that some way should be found to enable him to divest himself of his Privy Councillorship. The precedents were somewhat obscure, and it took a little time to devise what appeared to be the right way to carry out his wishes. I think that the submission which Her Majesty accepted was the right one in the circumstances.