§ Mr. Arthur LewisOn a point of order. I am sorry that I have not had the opportunity of drawing your attention, to this, Mr. Speaker, but I ask you to rule on the following matter, which I think is a point of order. It will be seen from HANSARD that a Minister gave a deliberate lie in replying to a Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Paddington, North (Mr. Latham):
Mr. RIPPON: I had nothing to do with the negotiations to enter the Community. The hon. Gentleman can say it is a coincidence in the sense that the agreement would have been reached in any event."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 2nd August, 1971; Vol. 822, c. 1065.]It was announced by the Prime Minister that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was responsible for negotiating the terms of entry into the E.E.C., and he has been to my knowledge negotiating 1848 for some months, indeed years. Most hon. Members thought that he was negotiating. If he is now saying that he was not negotiating, I should like to ask the Prime Minister who was negotiating. It seems that my hon. Friends are right, and no one was conducting the negotiations in the British interest.
§ Mr. SpeakerI dislike the use of the word "lie", which is not a parliamentary expression. Has the hon. Gentleman given the right hon. and learned Gentleman notice that he would raise this matter?
§ Mr. LewisI have no responsibility for what is said in HANSARD. It is in HANSARD. I am referring to HANSARD and asking for an explanation. It is surely the Minister's job to see that he gives the correct answer? If he has given the correct answer, he has said that he had nothing to do with the negotiations for entry into the Community. I have not said that; he has said it.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. There has been enough of this. It would have been more courteous of the hon. Gentleman to have drawn the right hon. and learned Gentleman's attention to this. Obviously, there is some mistake, but it is not a matter of order.
§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. William WhitelawFurther to that point of order. Perhaps I can help the hon. Gentleman and the House. I understand the hon. Gentleman did not give notice to my right hon. and learned Friend. I am not complaining about that, although I think he might have done so. I understand that, as sometimes happens, the word "not" was inserted where it should not have been. A correction is being sought in HANSARD and this will be put right in the proper way.
§ Mr. LewisFurther to that point of order. [Hon. Members: "No."] I am sorry, but I raise this with you, Mr. Speaker, because the Leader of the House obviously has not looked at HANSARD. If "not" is left out, the whole sense of the answer is lost.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am not prepared to allow this matter to be discussed further. The hon. Gentleman has made his point.