§ Mr. John Maxton (Glasgow, Cathcart)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, after the Falkland Islands statement, I raised a question with you about the position of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party in the House. In reply to my point of order, you said:
I did exactly the same in the last Parliament when there was an understanding between the Liberal Party and the Government of the day."—[Official Report, 14 December 1982; Vol. 34, c. 139.]I humbly suggest that you reconsider that statement, Sir, because during the 18 months from March 1977 to October 1978 there have been 15 by-elections and in all but one of those the Liberal Party put up a candidate against the official Labour Party candidate. Since the formation of the alliance between the Liberal Party and the SDP not once has there been both a Liberal Party candidate and an SDP candidate in the field. Therefore, I suggest that this makes the position different from the previous circumstances.What is more, during the Liberal Party conference the right hon. Member for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (Mr. Steel) was quoted in The Times as saying that there would be "closer co-operation" between the two parties:
Within the constraints of the Parliamentary rules and procedures we intend to make considerable progress on that, starting with the new Session.When asked why the two parties did not come together completely and have one leader, the right hon. Gentleman said:The rules and procedures of the Commons might operate against the parties if they went too quickly into the formation of one parliamentary group.It seems to me that the two parties are attempting to manipulate the rules of the House for their own benefit and electoral advantage. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to reconsider this matter carefully.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Maxton) has advanced his point of order. I can only tell the House that one of my major responsibilities is to have regard to the minority interests of the House. By and large, the big parties are able to look after themselves, and they do. I am not suggesting that they would dream of trying to use the rules of the House in their favour. I realise that such a thing would be unexpected. I intend to continue to recognise the two parties in the House as they proclaim themselves to be.