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Motion made, and Question proposed,
That the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis do take care that during the Session of Parliament the passages through the streets leading to this House be kept free and open and that no obstruction be permitted to hinder the passage of Members to and from this House, and that no disorder be allowed in Westminster Hall, or in the passages leading to this House, during the Sitting of Parliament, and that there be no annoyance therein or thereabouts; and that the Serjeant at Arms attending this House do communicate this Order to the Commissioner aforesaid.
§ Mr. LiptonI should like to make a very brief submission. I wish once again, as I did in 1966, to draw attention to the growing ineffectiveness of this Sessional Order. It is not the fault of the police, who hon. Members readily recognise do their very best to assist all hon. Members in the execution of their duties. But the growing volume of traffic makes it quite impossible for hon. Members to cross Bridge Street at the bottom of Parliament Street when approaching the House of Commons on foot. The police on duty, because of staff shortages, are not kept on duty long enough to get to recognise hon. Members.
I repeat what I said in 1966, that six police officers are required to control the traffic at that point. I suggest that access to the House be made dependent upon the operation of traffic lights. I remember, in the first Parliament after the war, the late Lord Winterton, the Father of the House, coming to the edge of the pavement and banging the pavement with his walking stick to draw the attention of the police to the fact that he wanted to cross the road. No hon. Member would have the nerve to do it nowadays.
I suggest that consideration be given to some alteration being made in the Sessional Order to take account of the increased volume of traffic which makes it impossible for the police, with the best will in the world, to ensure that the passages through the streets leading to the House are kept free and open whenever an hon. Member requires them to be kept free and open.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe House will remember that the last time that the hon. Gentleman made this point he was supported by a very beloved Member of the House, Mrs. Elizabeth Braddock.
42 The hon. Gentleman can raise this matter and matters like it in the debate on the Queen's Speech, which is about to follow. I am sure that the authorities will take note of his very wise observations.
§ Question put and agreed to.
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Ordered,
That the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis do take care that during the Session of Parliament the passages through the streets leading to this House be kept free and open, and that no obstruction be permitted to hinder the passage of Members to and from this House, and that no disorder be allowed in Westminster Hall, or in the passage leading to this House, during the Sitting of Parliament, and that there be no annoyance therein or thereabouts; and that the Serjeant at Arms attending this House do communicate this Order to the Commissioner aforesaid.