§ Q4. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister what progress has now been made in his talks with leaders of Her Majesty's Opposition on the establishment of specialist committees.
§ The Prime MinisterI have as yet nothing to add to the Answer I gave on 23rd June to a similar Question by my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. HamiltonIs my right hon. Friend aware that these talks are getting bogged down, like a lot of others? Can he say what the sticking point is and whether there is any prospect of getting specialist committees this Session?
§ The Prime MinisterThere was considerable delay, to which the Leader of the Opposition drew attention, between the reference to this in the Gracious Speech and our submitting proposals to the Opposition. There has now been a delay of precisely the same length in the reply from the Opposition, which I am glad to say we had this morning. We shall now need to consider the reply, but I think that I can say on the basis of the reply that progress is being made.