§ As amended (in the Standing Committee), considered.
§ 6.37 p.m.
§ Mr. Norman Buchan (Renfrewshire, West)On a point of order. May I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to New Clause 1, on which my name appears as a sponsor? I do not know how that happened, but I was not a sponsor of the clause. I am not making any great issue of that, since I am prepared to speak about the area board, but I was not a signatory. On the contrary, I was a signatory of New Clause 2. I presume that when that is called I shall be able to speak on that.
§ Mr. SpeakerI cannot understand how the mistake occurred, but no doubt inquiries will be made. The hon. Member should look at the selection list, from which he will see that New Clause 2 is not selected.
§ Mr. Dennis Canavan (West Stirlingshire)Further to that point of order. With regard to your provisional selection of amendments, Mr. Speaker, may I ask for your guidance? All but three of the 39 amendments and new clauses tabled for consideration have been selected. Two refer to the deletion of entire clauses, but the other is New Clause 2, in the names of myself and my hon. Friends the Members for Dundee, West (Mr. Doig) and Renfrewshire, West (Mr. Buchan). Various concepts are embraced in that new clause which were not debated in Committee and are not covered by any of the other amendments selected. I refer to the concept of the cooperative body called the Scottish Anglers' Trust, the concept of compulsory registration of fisheries in Scotland and also the suggested power of the trust to acquire any fishing rights which are deemed to be for the public interest. May I ask for your guidance, Mr. Speaker, on how those points should be debated?
§ Mr. SpeakerThere is nothing personal in the fact that the hon. Member is unlucky enough not to have had his new clause selected. The House has given me the obligation to select amendments on Report, and considerable time was spent this morning selecting these amendments. 1161 Because the House has also decided, of its own free will, that I am not required to give my reasons for this selection, I can only say that I wish that I could have been more helpful to the hon. Member. Certainly I have no desire to prevent him from speaking, but the decision that I reached was that the new clause was not selected.
§ Mr. BuchanFurther to the point of order, Mr. Speaker. I had been half hoping that, since there had been an error with my name being attached to New Clause 1, that might have influenced your decision about New Clause 2. If that is not so, however, I believe that it would be appropriate for us to ask you to have a fresh look at this as the debate is going on. The fact that this is a new clause would not alter the order of debate in this House.
In view of the fact that my hon. Friend has raised a number of new points which otherwise would not be discussed, since they are not covered in amendments which were put down during the Committee proceedings and would not be eligible for discussion on Report, because of your ruling, Mr. Speaker, but are vital to the whole question and have been the kernel of debate in our previous discussion of the Report from which the Bill comes, particularly the question of the public ownership of fishing, it would be very proper for you, Mr. Speaker, to reconsider your provisional selection and to give a changed decision on this before the proceedings are finished.
§ Mr. SpeakerI believe that the hon. Gentleman is not aware that my statement was as a result of further consideration, because his hon. Friend had made representations to me a little earlier when I was in the Chair and I went back and considered the matter very carefully. I am sorry that I am not able to select the new clause.