SCOTLAND (Hansard, 11 December 1985)

§ Mr. Speaker
Questions to the Secretary of State for Scotland—Question No. 1.

§ Mr. Tom Clarke
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I apologise for raising this point so early, but it is relevant to questions 3 and 4. I am a member of the Select Committee which this morning decided not to report to the House. Am I free to refer to this matter, should I be fortunate enough to catch your eye?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That question might have been more appropriate when we reached it, but I shall deal with it now. What happens in a Select Committee, sitting in private, cannot be discussed by the House until the Committee has reported. It is for the Committee to decide what action it should take within the terms of reference given to it by the House. However, questions 3 and 4 are of a wider nature. Provided that the hon. Gentleman does not refer to what went on in the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs, he will be in order.

§ Mr. Dewar
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I apologise for prolonging this discussion, but if a Select Committee decides that it will publish no report, does it mean that the Committee is still barred from reporting? I understood that the point of the ruling was that one did not comment until the report was before the House. As there is to be no report, is the Committee not entitled to report that there is to be no report? There seems to be a danger—I put it no higher—that the House will look a little silly if there is the clack of the market place —the talk of the steamie, if I may put it in Scottish terms—and yet it is barred from discussing the matter.

§ Mr. Henderson
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it not the case that whether or not a Select Committee reports to the House, discussion of what took place during the Committee's deliberations is a matter of privacy?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is exactly what I said, but that is not to say that the questions on the Order Paper cannot be discussed in the House. That is a different matter altogether.

§ Mr. Douglas
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I intervene with great reluctance to ask if you will examine exactly what you said. My view is that if a Select Committee decides to publish evidence, whether or not it 902 reports in final form to the House of Commons, matters that are in the public domain can be referred to in this House.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The Committee has not reported. That is the point. We must get on.

§ Mr. Lambie
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. As the Chairman of the Select Committee which decided today to publish the proceedings but not to issue a report, surely the Committee will look foolish if the press discusses this matter in Scotland but the members of the Committee that was directly responsible for the decision not to report are not allowed to comment. Will you reconsider your decision, Mr. Speaker?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I cannot reconsider it, because this is a matter of fact. It is perfectly possible for the minutes of proceedings to be published, and I understand that that will happen. That may be commented upon.

§ Dr. Bray
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Can the House not discuss what the Select Committee has decided to publish? It is well known generally and it will be widely reported in the press. It is also common knowledge in the House.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. We do not know what the Committee has decided until it reports its proceedings. Question No. 1, Mr. Gordon Wilson.