§ 11. Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he now has for further British participation in C.E.R.N., in the light of recent representations made by the German Government.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Mr. Gerry Fowler)I do not know to which representations my hon. Friend is referring.
§ Mr. DalyellIn the light of the reported representations by the German Government, is there nothing new in the British attitude?
§ Mr. FowlerI am still in the difficulty that I do not know to which representations my hon. Friend referred. If he refers to the German suggestion about the site of the 300 GeV machine, I do not think that affects the assurance I gave him last November of the Government's continued support for C.E.R.N.
§ Sir Hamar NichollsWhy did the Minister of State not take steps to find out what his hon. Friend wanted to know? Is it not treating the House discourteously when a Question has been on the Order Paper for a number of days not to find to what it refers so that a good Answer can be given?
§ Mr. FowlerI think the hon. Member's point is as exiguous as his majority. My hon. Friend had a perfectly good opportunity in his supplementary question to make clear to what he was referring and I dealt with what I thought he was referring to, but it still was not crystal clear.
§ Mr. MaudlingHas not the hon. Gentleman been rather rude to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Sir Harmar Nicholls) in answering a serious question?
§ Mr. FowlerI see no reason why I should not be rude to the hon. Member if he is rude to me. My hon. Friend had a good opportunity to make clear 603 to what he was referring and I went out of my way to reply to what I assumed it was.