§ Mr. MaclennanOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I wish to put to you a point on which I would not necessarily expect an immediate ruling. It concerns the reply which the Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry gave on Question No. 7, to my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mr. William Price).
During his reply, the hon. Gentleman referred to the successful prosecution of three companies and went on to refer to an appeal pending in the case of another and to the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions had taken up the respondent's case.
Whilst I fully recognise that the House has on a number of occasions recently expressed the desire that the sub judice rule should be interpreted as broadly as possible and with considerable discretion from the Chair, in matters of criminal cases the discretion is clearly less wide. I think that it merits your consideration whether or not these references by the hon. Gentleman prejudiced the hearing of the case and whether they should not have been made in this House.
§ Mr. SpeakerI will consider the point raised by the hon. Gentleman. I will examine the OFFICIAL REPORT and, if necessary, say something to the House about it at a later stage.