§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Before I call for the statement to be made, I have a brief ruling to give. Yesterday I undertook to rule on the submission made by the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) that a certain European Commission document had been cited by a Minister and ought therefore to be laid upon the Table. It is quite clear from the precedents that in applying this rule of the House the test has always been the actual quotation of the document. No such quotation has been alleged to have been made in this instance. The rule therefore does not apply.
The House will recall that on 10 June 1980 I had occasion to rule that a Minister was free to quote from an EEC document only if it had been made available in the Vote Office at least two hours before the beginning of the debate in question. That ruling still stands, but I fear that I cannot go beyond it.