§ Mr. Brian Sedgemore (Hackney, South and Shoreditch)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Is it a point of order?
§ Mr. SedgemoreYes, Mr. Speaker. Last week I raised with you a question of contempt and privilege in relation to the conduct of the hon. Member for Wealden (Sir G. Johnson Smith). You kindly ruled that you could not give the matter precedence, and of course I entirely accept your ruling. I wonder whether it is implicit in your ruling that Chairmen of Select Committees can discuss on the radio matters that Committees are investigating.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Member raised a matter of privilege with me and asked whether it could be given precedence. I have replied to him, and he knows the answer.
§ Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours (Workington)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I waited for my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore) to raise his point of order because he raises a matter which is of importance to the House—can chairmen of Select Committees go on television or the radio and issue public statements about matters which their Committees are considering in private? If that is the position, is it also in order for members of those Select Committees to have the right to go on television and radio and make similar statements? If that is the case, it means that members of the Select Committee on Members' Interests, which is currently examining the declaration of interest by the Prime Minister, are free to make public statements. I believe that the House requires a ruling on that matter.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The two hon. Members complained to me that this matter involved privilege, and I had to consider whether it should be given precedence 736 over the Orders of the Day. I looked, as the House would expect me to look, with immense care at what was said during the broadcast. I have now given my ruling on that matter and nothing further can arise on it as a matter of privilege. Although not a matter for me, I believe that people should be extremely careful about radio broadcasts.
Later——
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursrose——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. It must be a point of order, and if it is concerned with the matter upon which I have already ruled the hon. Member must not raise it.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursAs I understand it, Mr. Speaker, you have not actually ruled.
§ Mr. SpeakerYes, I have.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursAs I understand it, you made a statement about a letter that you sent my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch, which is not a ruling. It is a letter, which avoids making a ruling on the Floor of the House. It is correct, is it not, Mr. Speaker, that rulings cannot be made by correspondence? Could I ask, therefore, in the light of your reply to me on my point of order, how it is possible for hon. Members to determine when they may be acting in default of the requirements and rules governing Select Committees and when they may be able to make public statements? This is surely not a matter to be left to the subjective judgment of Members. There must be clear and objective rules to which all Members subscribe. In the light of the statements that have been made, it will now be with very great difficulty that Members are able to establish when they have the right to make a statement.
§ Mr. SpeakerThere was only one matter on which I was asked to rule. I repeat, I listened with great care, as the House would expect me to what was said in the broadcast, which I had not heard but have now had the opportunity to listen to. In my letter to the hon. Gentleman I have said that what was actually said in the broadcast was not a matter for the Committee of Privileges.