QUESTIONS TO MINISTERS (Hansard, 5 May 1975)

§ Mr. Blaker
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I refer to an answer which the Secretary of State gave to a supplementary question of mine on Question No. 11?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. Is it a point of order about the content of the reply?

§ Mr. Blaker
It is a point of order about the quotation which the Secretary of State attributed to the Minister of State. I contend that he should have quoted the whole of—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I am sorry but I nave ruled on this again and again. The content of an answer is not a matter of order for the Chair.

§ Mr. Hurd
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker. Could I ask for your help on a point which relates not to the content of an answer but to the fact that the Secretary of State specifically said that he was giving answers which reflected Government views except on those occasions when they reflected his own views? Is this—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. This point has been made to me several times already. I have ruled on it again and again. How Ministers decide to answer Questions is not a matter for the Chair. Nor is what they say. Whether it is a matter for relief is another matter but it is not for me to say. It is certainly not a matter of order. provided that the Minister uses parliamentary language, which he did.

§ Mr. Higgins
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I have your guidance? On occasions when the Minister totally 1016 fails—as he did in answer to his hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Cray-ford (Mr. Wellbeloved)—to answer a question dealing with the EEC, are we to assume that there is neither a Government view nor the Minister's personal view on the matter?

§ Mr. Speaker
No. The hon. Member has been in this House long enough to know that that is a bogus point of order.