§ Mr. RidleyOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I had a Question for Oral Answer down today to the Minister of Labour, and it appeared in the Order Book throughout last week. On coming to the House today I find that it has been transferred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and appears as No. 114. I received no notice of this transfer. The Question has been on the Paper for, I think, a month or so. Is it in order for Questions to be transferred at such short notice and after so long an interval? I should be most grateful if you, Sir, could tell me how I may have redress against the difficulties which result from such action.
§ Mr. SpeakerI have some sympathy with the point the hon. Gentleman has raised, but it is not a matter for me.
§ Later—
§ Mr. SpeakerAt the beginning of the afternoon, the hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) raised a point of order in which he complained that his Question, after remaining on the Order Paper for a long time, had been transferred from the Minister of Labour to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. There must be some mistake somewhere. I now have a photostat copy of his Question, which has been put in by himself or his secretary, and it is headed "To the Chancellor of the Exchequer". There seems to have been no transfer.
§ Mr. RidleyI am grateful to you for that, Mr. Speaker. The writing is not my own writing. I think that there has been some mistake and I beg your leave to withdraw the allegation that something improper had happened.