HC Deb 13 June 1984 vol 61 c923 3.48 pm
Mr. Allan Roberts (Bootle)

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I am not prepared to say any more.

Mr. Roberts

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek your guidance in relation to the rights of Back Benchers. Back Benchers and other hon. Members cannot accuse another Member of Parliament of being a liar or of misleading the House. As I understand it, the reason for that regulation is that Mr. Speaker protects the House from being misled and told lies. I should like to know, Mr. Speaker, perhaps tomorrow, what Mr. Speaker can do when such circumstances arise and it appears that the House has been told lies or is being misled. What responsibility do you have for calling to order a right hon. or hon. Member, a Minister, or the Prime Minister when he or she is apparently misleading the House? The matter must surely rest with you, because we are not allowed to accuse right hon. or hon. Members of being liars.

Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Member for Bootle (Mr. Roberts) knows that I cannot possibly answer that. I cannot read the minds of right hon. and hon. Members when they are making speeches from either side of the house. I have no knowledge whether what they are saying is right or wrong. That is not a matter for me at all, and I cannot deal with it.

Mr. Skinner

But on this question of what Members of Parliament are able to say about other right hon. and hon. Members, we are trying to develop a vocabulary to which we can add names and phrases or delete those that are not allowed. Will you give us advice, Mr. Speaker, on whether, in view of what my hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) and others have just said about what the Prime Minister says from the Dispatch Box, an hon. Member would be in order if he said, for instance, that she "would not know the truth if it was sprayed on her eyeballs."

Mr. Speaker

Order. The reason—the whole House knows this—why these phrases should not be allowed in the Chamber is a question of good order. I quote the wise words of Mr. Speaker Sir Thomas More: Without freedom of speech there can be no wise debate. Without order there can be no debate at all.