§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ Mr. CooperOn a point of order. May I draw your attention Sir, to the fact that on the tape at this moment is the published statement which the Minister of Public Building and Works is supposed to be making to the House?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I hope that the House, like the Chair, will listen. I am being addressed on a most interesting point of order.
§ Mr. CooperFurthermore, Mr. Speaker, the Statement is timed at 1.58 p.m.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat may be interesting, but it is not a point of order.
The Question is, That the Bill—
§ Mr. GrimondOn a point of order. It appears that the Minister's statement, if made, might have had some constitutional importance because it announces proposals by the Government for which there has been no explanation to the House as to whether they have any authority. There are a number of Ministers still left in the Government. Should not the Government give some reassurance that this matter will be explained to the House before we rise?
§ Mr. SpeakerI am certain that the right hon. Gentleman knows that that is not a matter for the Chair. It is a matter for political battle between both sides of the House.
§ Mr. HeathOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. We recognise the difficulty in which you find yourself, but the Leader of the House is present. This is a very serious matter because, having read a statement which apparently we ought not to have had yet, but which is on the tape, it appears that the Government have been using powers which they have no authority to use.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe Question is, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Mr. Pannell.
§ Sir D. RentonOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it not the fact that you have already called upon the Clerk to read the Orders of the Day? In these circumstances, have we no option but to proceed with them, thus eliminating any further Ministerial statements?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe right hon. and learned Gentleman cannot have heard what happened. We are on the Orders of the Day. The Question we are discussing is the Second Reading of the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill, on which it is appropriate for any hon. Member to speak. I called the Minister of Public Building and Works.
§ Mr. Pannellrose—
§ Mr. HeathOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Do we understand that it will be in order to debate the right hon. Gentleman's statement once he has made it?
§ Mr. SpeakerIt will be in order to comment on the statement when it is made.
§ Mr. Pannellrose—
§ Mr. ThorpeOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. At an earlier stage you called the Minister of Public Building and Works to make a statement. That was not sufficient to produce the Minister. Now, at a later stage, we are having the Second Reading of a Bill. Do we take it that this will enable the right hon. Gentleman to make his statement during the debate on the Second Reading?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe fact that I was unable to produce the Minister at the moment I called him is a matter for nature and not for Mr. Speaker. When I called the Minister the second time, he happened to be here. Mr. Pannell.
§ Mr. Pannellrose—
§ Mr. Thorperose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am not preventing hon. Gentlemen from raising important points of order, but I remind the House that we have an important defence debate to conclude today.
§ Mr. ThorpeFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Following your reply—which, of course, we all accept—if there 1917 was any suggestion that any criticism was being directed at you for the non-appearance of the Minister, may I say that far be it from us to question the workings of fate or to visit the transgressions of any Minister on your head.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe Chair did not need the hon. Gentleman's assurance.
§ Brigadier ClarkeOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Am I not right in understanding that you called the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill and then the adjourned defence debate? May I remind you that I was on my feet when the House adjourned the debate last night? Am I, therefore, not the first hon. Member entitled to speak today in the resumed debate on defence?
§ Mr. SpeakerWhen we return to the Motion, that will be so. The hon. and gallant Gentleman is correct. But he is now helping to delay the speech which he proposes to make on defence.
§ Mr. Pannellrose—
§ Mr. MartenOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You said that it was a matter of nature. Can we know whether the Minister was locked in the lavatory?
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that the hon. Gentleman will regret that he made that remark. Mr. Pannell.