§ Q4. Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Prime Minister what representations he has received from residents of the Huyton Parliamentary Constituency in regard to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission's proposals.
§ Q13. Mr. Bostonasked the Prime Minister what representations he has received arising from the Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England; and what replies he has sent.
§ The Prime MinisterI should perhaps make clear the constitutional position that I am not answerable to the House any more than any other hon. Member is answerable in respect of correspondence addressed to me as a constituency M.P.
Having said that, the total number of communications about the Government's Bill which I have received in both my capacity as Prime Minister and as constituency M.P. from my constituents—the total number—is not one, Sir. With regard to the number received from the whole of Britain, the answer is about 20.
§ Mr. GriffithsMr. Speaker—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I want to hear the supplementary question.
§ Mr. GriffithsI am obliged to you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Huyton constituency has a larger electorate than Ladywood, Manchester, Exchange and Leeds, South East put together, is it not extraordinary that the Prime Minister should be resisting the recommendations of the Boundary Commission, which says on page 48 of its report that Huyton cannot simply be left unchanged with 87,000 electors any longer?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is trying very hard after the Answer I gave. He could have mentioned Kinross and West Perthshire in his list. But I am deeply touched by the concern he showed about my constituents and which so many hon. Members showed for so many hours the other evening. I recognise, on their own admission, that their spite is not against the constituency but is against me. I have realised that for a long time. But the hon. Gentleman will be delighted to know—[Interruption.]—this was an admission of more than usual frankness—but the hon. Gentleman, with the deep concern for my constituents which I fully understand, will realise that all of my 95,000 constituents are happy with the Government's Bill [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Not one of them has written—not even the chairman of the local Conservative Party. There are many ways in which that gentleman could have communicated with me. I think that the mass of my constituents have shown their general support of their Member of Parliament.
§ Mr. BostonCan my right hon. Friend throw any light on Bexley? As the Leader of the Opposition is not now to be welcomed into the Cities of London and Westminster, we must not be too hard on him, because he brings benefits to some people. But since he is to remain at Bexley, would not my right hon. Friend agree that Bexley's loss is the Cities of London and Westminster's undoubted gain?
§ The Prime MinisterOn a previous occasion I said that I was not concerned with the Leader of the Opposition. As I have explained, since the Government's announcement on this matter I have had some 20 letters from the country as a whole—which surely reflects deep concern about the Government's proposal—compared with 50 letters about the abolition of hare-coursing and 70 letters about cruelty to dogs in Japan.
§ Mr. RipponWill the Prime Minister—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The House must not get too happy.
§ Mr. RipponWill the Prime Minister—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder.
§ Mr. RipponWill the Prime Minister say what point it would be for the chairman of the Conservative Party in Huyton to ask him why he is rigging his own constituency?
§ The Prime MinisterIf the chairman of the Conservative Party in my constituency—for whom I have far more respect as a Conservative than for most members of the Opposition Front Bench—really feels strongly about this matter, he is perfectly articulate and capable of expressing that view and writing to me about it. I must tell the right hon. and learned Gentleman that I have not even had a representation from the Monday Club.
§ Mr. ShinwellWhat has my right hon. Friend done about the letters—a substantial number of about 70—which he has received about the export of dogs to Japan?
§ Mr. RipponAll without licences.
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. and learned Member for Hexham (Mr. Rippon) may joke about other subjects but not about a serious subject like dogs in Japan. I have sent to the authors of those letters, as to the authors of the smaller number criticising the Government's Bill, appropriate replies.
§ Mr. ThorpeAre we to assume that the lightness of the Prime Minister's postbag on the question of the redistribution of boundaries—
§ Mr. ThorpeAre we to assume—
§ Mr. William HamiltonTake your hand out of your pocket.
§ Mr. ThorpeAre we to assume from the lightness—
§ Mr. William HamiltonTake it out.
§ Mr. ThorpeAre we to assume from the lightness of the Prime Minister's postbag on this subject that he intends to treat with equal levity Motion No. 400 which has been signed by many of his hon. Friends calling attention to the need for the redistribution of boundaries and the holding of by-elections at fixed statutory periods—the term fixed in this case not referring to the discretion of the Government but to a statutory period.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Question on the Order Paper related to the number of communications I had received from Huyton constituency and not to Motions on the Order Paper. To judge from the degree of ecstacy in which the right hon. Gentleman got himself last week, I do not think that he was very critical of the size of the Birmingham, Ladywood constituency.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Because of the noise I inadvertently misquoted the Boundary Commission and I should like to put the matter right at once.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I will deal now with the hon. Gentleman's point of order. If he did attempt to quote the Boundary Commission in a supplementary question he was out of order. If he attempted to correct the quotation he would be even more out of order.
§ Mr. GriffithsI quite accept what you have said, Mr. Speaker. All I wish to correct is the number of voters. It is not as I said it was—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Chair will inform an hon. Member when he is out of order.
§ Mr. GriffithsI simply wish to correct my misstatement. I said that the number of constituents in Huyton was 87,000. I should have said that it was 87,379.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe House will note the gravity of the correction.