Business of the House (Hansard, 13 January 1986)

§ The Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. John Biffen)
I should like to make a short business statement—

§ Mr. Robin Maxwell-Hyslop (Tiverton)
Further to the point of order raised by the Leader of the Opposition—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I have called the Leader of the House to make a business statement.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I have dealt with the point which was not a matter for me—as the hon. Gentleman well knows.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. It is a matter, not for me, but for the Leader of the House.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Member, who is very experienced in these matters, and the whole House know that the matter that was raised is not a matter for me. [Interruption.] Order. I have called the Leader of the House to make a statement on this very matter.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I am not prepared to take any further points of order—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Order. I am not prepared to take any further points of order on this matter because that would tend to lead to a debate, which is not a matter for me.

§ Mr. Biffen
I should like to make a short business statement. In view of the remarks of the Leader of the Opposition, the business of the House for Wednesday will now be as follows:
Opposition Day, Third allotted day. There will be a debate on Westland plc, on an Opposition motion. Afterwards, a debate on a motion on the Statutory Sick Pay Uprating Order.

§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. If the hon. Gentleman will be patient, I shall call him later.

§ Mr. David Steel (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale)
Presumably the business statement is open to question. I should like to ask the Leader of the House whether he is aware that every newspaper, every radio and television programme, and every pub in the land is discussing the issues that have arisen—[Interruption.]—from the resignation—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. This begins to sound like every pub in the land.

§ Mr. Steel
—of the Secretary of State for Defence? Is it not the right hon. Gentleman's responsibility, as Leader of the House, to arrange for the Prime Minister to make a statement on the wider issues, not on the narrow issues, which are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for 775 Trade and Industry? The wider issues are Cabinet responsibility and the balance of defence procurements between Europe and the United States. If no such statement is forthcoming, will the right hon. Gentleman give an undertaking that the Prime Minister will participate in the debate that he has just announced?

§ Mr. Biffen
Obviously it will be within your competence, Mr. Speaker, to decide how wide the debate may go on Wednesday. However, I should be surprised if the right hon. Gentleman were disappointed.

§ Mr. Geoffrey Dickens (Littleborough and Saddleworth)
May I ask the Leader of the House whether we may know the terms of the motion that we shall be asked to debate on Wednesday?

§ Mr. Biffen
The terms are not yet available, but they will be in good time.

§ Mr. Gordon Wilson (Dundee, East)
Is the Leader of the House aware that many of us from Scotland knew that part of the debate on Wednesday would be given over to the problem of the Gart—er [HON. MEMBERS:"—cosh."]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. We all suffer from slips of memory.

§ Mr. Wilson
Given my anger about the matter, it is hardly surprising that that should have happened. Why is the debate to be abandoned, particularly as people have been marching down from Scotland to England? When will we have a debate on that crucial matter, in which Scotland is far more interested than it is in the Westland Helicopters' problem?

§ Mr. Biffen
I am sure the hon. Gentleman will understand at once that the decision not to proceed with the debate was in the gift of the Opposition. I shall look at the wider issues that he mentioned.

§ Mr. Patrick Cormack (Staffordshire, South)
Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister take part in the debate on Wednesday?

§ Mr. Biffen
My hon. Friend need not fret. He will not be disappointed.

§ Mr. Ian Wrigglesworth (Stockton, South)
Can the Leader of the House be a little more precise? Is he not aware that the statements made last week by the former Secretary of State for Defence have profound implications both for national security and for the whole conduct of government in this country? Is he not also aware that the House will be disappointed to learn that the Prime Minister is not to make a statement this afternoon? Will he therefore make it clear that the Prime Minister will speak during the debate on Wednesday?

§ Mr. Biffen
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will in no sense be disappointed by the content and outcome of Wednesday's debate.

§ Mr. James Couchman (Gillingham)
Does my right hon. Friend know whether the Opposition, in choosing this subject for debate, propose to treat it as a matter for the various spokesmen of the sponsoring Departments, in opening and winding up the debate, or whether they propose to throw in some heavier guns?

§ Mr. Biffen
I shall not respond to the mean remarks that have been made from behind me. The actual participants are for the Opposition themselves to determine, but the Government will be fielding the highest and foremost team.