§ Mr. G. CampbellOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I respectfully ask for your guidance? If an hon. Member puts a Question, and does not ask a supplementary question, does that mean that there can be no other supplementary questions?
§ Mr. SpeakerIt has been the custom for some time that, if the hon. Member who puts a Question does not ask a supplementary question, I move on to the next Question, unless there are special circumstances. I did not think that there were any today.
§ Mr. William HamiltonOn another point of order, Mr. Speaker. When Question No. 15 was answered today, it was answered with Question No. 65. You will recall, Sir, that the previous Speaker ruled that he would not take Questions beyond No. 50 which were tagged on to earlier Questions. May we know whether you are still adhering to that rule?
§ Mr. SpeakerIf I remember aright—perhaps the hon. Gentleman will look it up—my predecessor did not make a categorical rule. Paraphrasing what he said, and giving the sense of it, he said that, if he felt that Members were putting down Questions late on the Order Paper, copy- 254 ing earlier Questions, he would be inclined not to call the later Questions and, if there were a batch of later Questions in the 50s, 60s, or 70s, he would be inclined not to call them.
I assure the hon. Gentleman that if I thought that there was any abuse I would not call late Questions.