§ Sir Harmar NichollsOn a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. I did not pursue my point of order on Question No.45, because it would have impinged upon Question Time. May I pursue it now?
§ Mr. SpeakerYes.
§ Sir Harmar NichollsThe Secretary of State for Defence answered a Question by referring to paragraph and subparagraph which it was almost impossible to identify. It was quite clear that the Answer was not understood, because the hon. Gentleman who asked the Question then asked a supplementary to which the original Answer bore no relation. My hon. Friends and the Liberal Chief Whip tried to follow the answers given by the Secretary of State in the documents that we thought he referred to. The Question semed to refer to the repair of accommodation stores, which bore no relation to the supplementaries which followed it.
It is obvious that we were wrong in thinking that it was that particular paragraph, but this points to the fact that that type of Answer, which merely gives index numbers and figures, is not a fair way of keeping the House of Commons informed. Have we any defence at all to make certain that, when Questions are answered, they are not smothered round 521 with this type of camouflage figure, which merely means that it is no answer?
§ Mr. SpeakerI am sure that the Ministers will take note of the hon. Gentleman's observations. It is not a matter for the Chair. A Minister can reply in whatever way he chooses. I believe that occasionally Ministers' replies are unsatisfactory in various kinds of ways.