§ Mr. RoebuckOn a point of order. May I inquire whether you have had any requests, Mr. Speaker, from the Ministry of Defence for a personal statement to be made today to correct errors in the Adjournment debate of 28th January at c. 1685 of the OFFICIAL REPORT?
§ Mr. SpeakerI have had a request. If the hon. Gentleman looks at Erskine May page 373, he will see that the discretion is with Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. RoebuckMay I put this further point to you. It is a long tradition and custom of the House that when errors of fact have been made, particularly by the Executive, the earliest opportunity is normally sought to put these things right. I would respectfully ask you in the light of that to reconsider your decision.
§ Mr. SpeakerI must read the passage in Erskine May, which says:
the House … will permit a statement of that character to be made without any question being before the House provided the Speaker has been informed of what the hon. Member proposes to say, and has given leave. Objection has however been taken to a Minister correcting a previous Ministerial statement by means of a personal explanation.
§ Mr. WellbelovedFurther to that point of order. Can you advise us in what way the Ministry of Defence can correct the information that it gave to the House if it cannot be done by personal statement? Can the Ministry do it by publishing in today's HANSARD a correction to the debate of 28th January? This is a most important matter because the Minister said:
Nothing could be further from the truth …"—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 28th January, 1970; Vol. 794, c. 1685.]768 This was in respect of a point put by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Roebuck).
§ Mr. SpeakerI understand that there is a Written Answer today which will contain the apology that the Minister wishes to make to the hon. Member. There is no discourtesy on the part of the Minister.