§ Mr. Charles Pannell (Leeds, West)I wish to make a personal statement.
In the debate on Thursday last, on the Motion on Housing and Building Policies, as reported at column 1632 of the OFFICIAL REPORT, I said:
I say this with great respect to my right hon. Friend the Minister. The name of the Ministry it itself a misnomer. It has graduated from the First Commissioner of Works, the Estates of Land and Forests and many antediluvian titles. It now has a name which seems to be a hangover from historic buildings and glorified conveniences."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 19th May, 1966; Vol. 728, c. 1632.]I was using the last word in the context of what the Ministry of Public Building and Works does, its care of a great variety of things, including royal residences and parks, embassies, consulates, botanical gardens, grace-and-favour residences and the like, in the way that the Oxford English Dictionary uses it, for it defines "conveniences" as:Material arrangements or appliances advantageous to life, personal comfort, ease of work, saving of trouble, etc.There appeared on the tapes in this House on that same night the words "public lavatory" in a substitution for the word "conveniences" and this rather vulgar connotation was taken up throughout the Press on Friday, causing some embarrassment to my family and friends. The Editor of HANSARD has confirmed that what I said was in the OFFICIAL REPORT.Seriously, I make this statement because I shall always be proud of having presided over a great Department of State and am conscious of the kindness to me and the loyalty of those within that Department. I would wish to say nothing to detract from the respect that I have for them and the respect that I would have hoped to have earned from them.