HC Deb 08 July 1985 vol 82 c724 3.34 pm
Mr. Ray Powell (Ogmore)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You were kind enough to listen to my point of order a week ago concerning the occasion when my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) asked the Prime Minister about the statement by the Secretary of State for Wales, in which he compared the opposition in the Brecon and Radnor by-election to a mixture of the Mafia and the mentally handicapped, on the ground that neither candidate was allowed out without a minder. The Prime Minister denied that her Secretary of State for Wales would make such a statement. You, Mr. Speaker, said that it was not a point of order. Is it now a point of order? Will you request the Prime Minister, who made a false declaration to the House of Commons, to apologise? We have received an apology from the Secretary of State, but I thought that I should raise the issue at Question Time so that the Secretary of State can apologise not only to the House and the nation but particularly to the people whom he tried to debase—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I think that I have got the drift. It was not a point of order for me when the hon. Gentleman first raised it and it is not a point of order for me now. I heard what the Secretary of State said and I hope that honour is now satisfied.

Later—

Mr. Ray Powell

Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek your further advice and guidance. If you cannot make a ruling on the matter, although the Prime Minister deliberately misled the nation and the House, can the Leader of the House advise us when he will ask the Prime Minister to make a statement to the House on the issue that I have raised?

Mr. Speaker

The Leader of the House is in the Chamber.