§ Mr. Dennis. Skinner (Bolsover)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. During the weekend it was revealed that a senior Cabinet Minister, the Secretary of State for Transport, had made £4,000 from shares in the Jaguar company, which this Government have privatised. That followed on from the Prime Minister's making money out of Broken Hill, which made money out of the miners' strike. Many hon. Members and people outside the House are worried about the way in which Cabinet Ministers in particular can own shares—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I must stop the hon. Member. Points of order raised with me must concern Members' interests. I am not concerned with ministerial rules.
§ Mr. SkinnerYou are absolutely right, Mr. Speaker. The Register of Members' Interests, for which you have responsibility because it is a matter for the House, not the Government, is inadequate to fulfil present-day needs. It is high time that it contained a separate section showing how many Cabinet Ministers own shares. The latest report is that nine Cabinet Ministers own shares.
Another matter which you should consider is that in the Register of Members' Interests only an hon. Member who owns more than 1 per cent. of the total shareholding must register his interest. That is why the Secretary of State for Transport has "Nil" beside his name. It is high time that all shares were disclosed in the Register and that we had a separate section on the Cabinet, especially in view of the latest scandals and all the money that Ministers have been making through their actions in the House.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman is at liberty to put that suggestion to the Select Committee on Members' Interests.