§ Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton)On a point of order on a matter relating to the rights of hon. Gentlemen and straight dealing with the House, Mr. Speaker. You may see on page 2394 of the Order Paper question No. 193 in the name of the hon. Member for Bedfordshire, North (Sir T. Skeet) which was tabled yesterday to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply of 11 February to the hon. and learned Member for Burton (Mr. Lawrence)
what representations he has received on the draft guidelines concerning representations made by right hon. and hon. Members in immigration cases; and whether he will make a statement.Following that response, at the invitation of the Home Secretary, I together with my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Mr. Dubs) have had two meetings with the Home Secretary on behalf of my hon. Friends in the parliamentary Labour party.On the second occasion the Home Secretary was accompanied by the Minister of State, the hon. and learned Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Waddington). Following the invitation of the Home Secretary and his statement about his wish for discussions, we had detailed discussions on this matter. When at the end of the second prolonged meeting, I asked the Home Secretary whether he would communicate with me on behalf of my hon. Friends before any further action was taken by him, the Home Secretary gave me a firm assurance that he would communicate with me on the outcome of my discussions with him before any action whatever was taken. The private office of the Home Secretary——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Could the right hon. Gentleman put a point of order to me, because I do not understand what all this is about?
§ Mr. KaufmanI am coming directly to the question, Mr. Speaker. I have just been in communication with the private office of the Home Secretary. It has informed me that now—that is, after 3.30—a reply to the question of the hon. Member for Bedfordshire, North has been given, together with new draft guidelines which are presumably the outcome of discussions with hon. Members, including myself, yet no communication of any kind has been made to me by the Home Secretary about the outcome of those discussions. For the second time, therefore, we are faced with the situation, the previous occasion having been referred to in the planted question, of the Home Secretary ignoring the rights of the House, ignoring undertakings that he has given to hon. Members and acting unilaterally to provide new guidelines for the House.
This is a breach of faith with hon. Members. It is the latest episode in a shabby and discreditable story. I ask, Mr. Speaker, whether you will direct that, instead of behaving in this underhand way, the Home Secretary must come later today to the House of Commons and make a statement on his lack of plain dealing and his breach of faith.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe right hon. Gentleman knows that I cannot give a direction to the Government on that matter. I notice that the question asks
what representations he has received.301 I cannot read into that question anything that the right hon. Gentleman has said. We shall have to wait and see. In any event, it is not a matter for me.