HC Deb 24 January 1978 vol 942 cc1182-3
Mr. Sillars

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am seeking your advice on how an hon. Member can register in the columns of Hansard the silence of several sections of this House. It will be within your recollection as a Member of this House, although you did not occupy the Chair at that time, that when unemployment passed the 1 million figure under the then Conservative Government, your predecessor had to abandon the proceedings of the House because of demonstrations by the Parliamentary Labour Party. Is any facility available to hon. Members, such as me, who would like to draw the country's attention to the fact that unemployment today passed the 1.5 million mark with scarcely a ripple of anxiety, concern or protest from the ranks of the Parliamentary Labour Party?

Mr. Speaker

Order. I have allowed the hon. Gentleman to continue, but I think that he knew that he was scoring a point rather than raising a point of order.

Later

Mr. Heffer

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I, too seek your guidance? How can hon. Members who might want not only to make a ripple on the question of unemployment but to create a possible explosion do so if they consistently try to speak at Question Time but are not called?

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman does not do badly.