§ Mr. Gerald KaufmanOn a point of order. You will recall, Mr. Speaker, that I gave notice that I would raise a point of order about certain agricultural Questions at the beginning of this afternoon. You will recall that on 18th December the House agreed, on a motion of the Leader of the House, with the conclusion expressed in paragraph 36 of the report of the Select Committee on Questions, with regard to planted Questions from Ministers. This afternoon, on agricultural Questions, a number of hon. Gentlemen opposite put Questions to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food related to food prices and certain wage increases among certain sections of the community and, as if by magic, the Minister, in his brief, had the precise statistics relating to the wages and incomes of the people concerned—coal miners, motor workers, old-age pensioners, and others.
On the other hand, when my hon. Friend the Member for Renfrew, West (Mr. Buchan) asked a Question relating to agricultural workers' pay, the magic disappeared and the Minister of State required notice with regard to the statistics.
Can you therefore say, Mr. Speaker, whether the arrangement between the Minister of Agriculture and his colleagues on the back benches which led to this co-ordination of Question and answer violates the House's decision of 18th December to endorse paragraph 36 of the Select Committee report?
§ Mr. SpeakerI do not think anything that happened was out of order. However, I will consider what the hon. Member said and will study the report of the Questions and answers, and if necessary rule on the matter.