HC Deb 25 March 1971 vol 814 cc887-9
Sir Harry Legge-Bourke

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I say at the outset that I have given notice to the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Molloy) and to my right hon. Friend the Chief Whip of my intention to raise this point of order.

The House may be in some difficulty on this matter since the HANSARD report which appeared this morning takes in our proceedings up until only 10.30 p.m. As a result, the particular part of our proceedings to which I wish to refer can only be read in typescript form in the Library. However, I have studied that typescript of what happened and, in the cause of accuracy, I have armed myself with a copy of it.

Those of us who have had the experience of taking the Chair of the House recognise the great difficulty in which the Chair is placed when points of order are raised in the middle of a Division. Just after midnight last night there was a great deal of noise in the House, and the hon. Member for Ealing, North felt obliged to raise a point of order referring to my right hon. Friend the Chief Whip. When the hon. Gentleman first raised the matter, you, Mr. Speaker very properly said that you could not deal with it at that moment since you had to put the Question. You duly put the Question, and the hon. Member for Ealing, North then expounded his point of order yet further. The hon. Member for Glasgow, Kelvingrove (Dr. Miller) also raised a point of order to which I do not wish to refer and to which I take no exception. At the end, you are reported as having made what I submit was a very wise Ruling. You said, "At this time of night, at the end of a very long and hard day's night, a lot of things happen, are said and done, and the less attention that we pay to them the better." Unfortunately, although the House accepted your advice, certain newspapers and the B.B.C. have not. As a result, an allegation about my right hon. Friend the Chief Whip has been put about.

I should have much preferred the hon. Member for Ealing, North to have felt inclined to make a personal statement today. I recognise that he is under—[HON. MEMBERS: "Rubbish!"] I ask hon. Members opposite to recognise that I am trying not to make matters worse. I am trying to ensure that the allegation made against my hon. Friend can be cleared up as soon as possible, one way or the other. I should have much preferred, had the hon. Gentleman so wished—and I do not know whether he does wish—that the hon. Gentleman might have intended to make a personal statement. I recognise that it is difficult for an hon. Member to make a personal statement when there are no copies available of the HANSARD reporting the relevant passages. That is the only reason why I raise the matter as a point of order today. It is a matter which should not be left on public record unchallenged when, as far as all of us on this side of the House are aware, my right hon. Friend was in no way guilty of what he was accused of last night—

Mr. William Hamilton

He could hardly walk up there.

Sir H. Legge-Bourke

Any hon. Member who has been in this House for any length of time knows that there are moments at the end of a very protracted exercise involving a severe test of both Whips' offices when a little exhilaration is to be expected. On this occasion, however, I want categorically to say that there was no foundation in the allegation against my right hon. Friend, and I hope that the hon. Member for Ealing, North will withdraw it.

Mr. Molloy

I wish first to confirm that the hon. Member for Isle of Ely (Sir H. Legge-Bourke), with his customary courtesy, told me that he intended to raise this matter today. In view of the fact that copies of the OFFICIAL REPORT are not available, I must rest my case on any decision reached by you, Mr. Speaker. I must tell the hon. Gentleman, with all the courtesy that I can muster, that if anyone should be making a personal statement it is not me but the Government Chief Whip. I have no intention of taking the matter further or stirring it up any more, but I shall fight against the entire Tory Party as long as God gives me breath.

Dr. Glyn

Further to that point of order. It is within the knowledge of this House that I am a medically qualified man. I stood next to my right hon. Friend at the Bar of the House, and I can assure the House that the allegation which has appeared in the newspapers is completely and utterly unfounded.

Mr. Speaker

Order. I think that it would have been better if this matter had been considered after a certain period for reflection, during which time we could have studied the OFFICIAL REPORT. I really think that this is a House of Commons matter. It is very easy to toss this kind of suggestion late at night from one side or the other. I think that most of us know that there is seldom foundation for this kind of statement. But this is a House of Commons matter. So often, a great deal of serious discussion attracts very little attention in the Press. When an incident of this sort occurs, immediately it becomes headline news.

I propose to wait until I see the OFFICIAL REPORT and then to decide, probably tomorrow, whether any further action is necessary.