§ Mr. Arthur LewisOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. It may not be within your knowledge, Sir, but at this moment thousands of unemployed workers are marching on the Houses of Parliament or congregating outside this building. I had difficulty in getting into the House because of the large gathering of unemployed there, and I have had experience of the trouble and difficulty caused by this sort of event on past occasions.
Will you, Sir, please take whatever steps may be open to you to facilitate meetings with these unemployed persons because they, like everybody else, pay their taxes which in turn help to keep this place going. Since it is very cold outside it is surely a crying shame that they should be kept outside the building when there are some 1,100 rooms in the building into any of which they could be invited.
1350 May I suggest that you give instructions to the authorities that those people now outside the building should be allowed inside in the warm, and that they should not be kept outside because of the alleged lack of accommodation when there is plenty of room in the building. It may be that if they get cold they may get a little exasperated with the Government and may wish to show their opposition to the Administration in ways which probably we should not welcome. I might suggest that perhaps Westminster Hall could be opened up to them, or the various committee rooms, or even the dining rooms which at this time of the day are unoccupied. I certainly hope that facilities will be made available for these people and that at least we can give them something when all they are asking for is work.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member has raised as a point of order a matter which must be of concern to everybody. I do not think it is a matter for me to decide upon today. So far as Westminster Hall is concerned, I propose to abide by the advice given by the Services Committee in a similar situation during the last Parliament, and I propose to adopt that advice on this occasion. These other matters, however, are not for me today. They are matters of wider consideration involving the whole question of the administration of the building and the provision to be made available. They are not matters of order for me.
§ Mr. Arthur LewisI am sorry, Mr. Speaker, that I did not have the opportunity to give you notice of this matter or perhaps you would have had the opportunity of referring in the records to a similar incident which I raised with your predecessor. On that occasion there was a similar period of severe weather, and in those circumstances the then Speaker broke the normal rule by allowing into the House more representatives than was usually the custom. Your predecessor allowed those people to enter St. Stephen's Hall and on that occasion that accommodation was more occupied than is normally the case when people are allowed to wait there. I would repeat that it is bitterly cold outside, and I believe it is within your power to instruct the authorities of the House not to abide by their rigid rule of just allowing in a 1351 small number at any one time when there are so many thousands of people waiting outside.
§ Mr. SpeakerI shall certainly look look into the matter to see whether there is anything than can reasonably be done. The hon. Member will appreciate that Mr. Speaker is in difficulty because he cannot be aware of the conditions outside, but I will see if anything can be done within reason.