§ Q6. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Prime Minister whether he will now answer Questions about arrangements for collective consideration of important matters in the Cabinet.
§ The Prime MinisterI would refer the hon. Member to my reply to a similar Question by him on 30th April, 1968.—[Vol. 763, c. 999–1001.]
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneSurely the situation has changed since then. Since the Prime Minister has taken care to tell every newspaper that he has plucked up courage to snub the Home Secretary by excluding him from the inner Cabinet but does not have the courage to get rid of him altogether, should this House in all propriety not have the right to discuss the membership of the inner Cabinet?
§ The Prime MinisterThe first two parts of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question are based on a complete misstatement of the facts and therefore I do not need to refer to the third part. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman look up the Answer I gave him on 30th April, 1968, together with the reply to a supplementary question he put on that occasion. He will find that we have given more information about these matters, including, for example, the debate on the Fulton Report, than our predecessors—rather unlike the situation in 1956, when the Pretext Committee to find an excuse for invading Suez was not made public or even debated in the House.