Select Committee (Broadcast) (Hansard, 29 February 1984)

§ Mr. Brian Sedgemore (Hackney, South and Shoreditch)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I wish to raise a point of order concerning the conduct of Chairmen of Select Committees which are conducting sensitive and contentious inquiries. You will be aware that about two weeks ago various hon. Members lodged complaints with the Select Committee on Members' Interests about the Prime Minister's conduct in relation to a contract in Oman. Last Saturday on "The Week in Westminster", the hon. Member for Wealdon (Sir G. Johnson Smith), the Chairman of the Select Committee on Members' Interests, took part in a broadcast, throughout which he spoke about the Prime Minister's dealings in Oman. In effect, he spoke to her innocence, to the fact that she had in no way committed a misconduct or broken any rules, and he said that it was merely a mother trying to defend her son.
I wish to put four points to you, Mr. Speaker. First, in my submission it is difficult to conceive of a greater contempt of the House than that the Chairman of a Select Committee conducting a sensitive inquiry should seek to pre-empt the issue—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. This is a matter which the hon. Gentleman should raise on a motion. It is not a matter with which I can deal on the Floor of the House.

§ Mr. Sedgemore
I am asking for your advice Mr. Speaker—

§ Mr. Speaker
I have just given my advice to the hon. Gentleman. I can say nothing more about it. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to criticise the Chairman of a Select Committee, he must do so by way of a motion.

§ Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Sedgemore
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am not seeking to criticise the Chairman of a Select Committee. I am asking for your advice about what happens when Select Committees are considering highly contentious and sensitive issues, and I am asking you to help Back-Bench Members to sustain the integrity of the House. We need to know what is and is not permissible for Chairmen of Select Committees to say on radio in the middle of an inquiry, because my constituents are saying to me—

Hon. Members
Ah!

§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)
Look at those hooligans.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I must tell the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner), who has been helpful this afternoon, that we should have no hooliganism.

§ Mr. Skinner
They shouted, not me.

§ Mr. Sedgemore
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. My constituents are saying to me that I have told them that I shall not make any public pronouncements on this issue because it is being investigated by a Select Committee. My constituents are asking me why there is one set of rules and conventions for me as a Back-Bencher, and another for the Chairman of the Select Committee.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I have already told the hon. Gentleman that he is going into the merits of the matter. He must put down a motion, and we will deal with the matter in that way.

§ Mr. Dalyell
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. With respect, there is a precedent. In 1967, after I had talked too freely on a Select Committee report, the question of a breach of privilege was raised. It will be within the recollection of some hon. Members and of the learned Clerks that as a result of my talking to The Observer in the case of Porton Down and Mr. Lawrence Marks before—although I did not know it at the time—the report had been published, the matter was automatically raised on the Floor of the House as a question of privilege. May we ask for your guidance, Mr. Speaker—perhaps not off the top of your head but in the form of a statement tomorrow—as to whether the hon. Gentleman's astonishing broadcast, which some of us heard on Saturday morning, constitutes a flagrant breach of privilege? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. In 1967 some of us had to go through it all—Speaker, black cap and all. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) had to go through it, too. You do not do that in these civilised days, Mr. Speaker, but Mr. Speaker King was quick enough on the draw in those days. What has changed?

§ Mr. Speaker
I remember the incident well. If the hon. Gentleman considers that this is a question of privilege, he should raise it with me in the present way, by writing to me.