§ Mr. MeacherOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I wish to raise the question of the special control units which were devised under the previous Conservative Government to provide a regime of psychological and social deprivation—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Is the hon. Gentleman making an application under Standing Order No. 9?
§ Mr. MeacherNo, Mr. Speaker. The special control units were devised under the last Conservative Government to pro vide a regime of deprivation for intractable prisoners. Documents relating to that experiment which show clearly that the House and the public were deliberately kept in the dark were recently handed over in court to the National Council for Civil Liberties. They have been impounded by a gagging writ served on the NCCL legal officer—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am afraid that I am not able to help the hon. Gentleman. It is clear that he is not referring to anything which breaks our Standing Orders. This is not a point of order. The hon. Member should pursue the matter in some other way.
§ Mr. MeacherFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Very exceptionally, when there is no point of order, I accept the phrase "further to that point of order"—but only for a brief time.
§ Mr. MeacherI am grateful to you, Mr. Speaker. I have already written to the Prime Minister on this matter—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That settles the matter.