§ Mr. Geoffrey Dickens (Littleborough. and Saddleworth)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will recall that yesterday the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) raised a point of order criticising me for having broken one of the conventions of the House. You will also recall that since I was elected to Parliament I have always been a great upholder of our conventions, traditions and, indeed, of you, Mr. Speaker.
Where the safety of children is involved, there may be times when one cannot act speedily and observe the niceties of the workings of the House. I spoke out on a particular issue, but not from the information from only one informant. It leaves a nasty taste in my mouth to be criticised for protecting children by the hon. Gentleman who introduced members of the IRA into the House.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This sort of exchange does not help our proceedings. I dealt with the matter yesterday. I do not know whether the hon. Member for Littleborough and Saddleworth (Mr. Dickens) was present. Irrespective of the speed with which events occur, the conventions of the House are important.
§ Mr. CorbynFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it on order for the hon. Member for Littleborough and Saddleworth (Mr. Dickens) to mislead the House about my remarks yesterday? I criticised him, not for not informing me of what he was doing in my constituency, although that would have been the decent thing to do, but for irresponsibly passing unfounded allegations to the media, who then crawled all over an estate and caused a great deal of hardship and hurt to the people of the area. It is the hon. Gentleman's irresponsible behaviour which has upset the residents of the area. They are demanding strongly that he visits the estate and apologises publicly to them.
§ Mr. SpeakerThere is an early-day motion on the Order Paper about the matter, and that is the right way to deal with it.
§ Mr. Ken Eastham (Manchester, Blackley)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. It should go on record that this is not the first time that this has happened. The hon. Member for Littleborough and Saddleworth (Mr. Dickens) knows of a similar incident in my constituency when I received complaints from a clergyman on behalf of his parishioners protesting about the hon. Gentleman's conduct, which I raised in the House. It is time that the hon. Gentleman observed the courtesy of informing the hon. Members concerned.
§ Mr. Dickensrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I shall give the hon. Gentleman one more opportunity, but not to prolong the matter.
§ Mr. DickensI shall not detain the House. I wish to place on record the fact that arrests and prosecutions have resulted from information that I have provided in the past.