§ Mr. Richard Hickmet (Glanford and Scunthorpe)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. On Thursday, during exchanges between the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) and my hon. and learned Friend the Minister of State, Home Office, the hon. Member for Islington, North suggested that some hon. Members might be persuaded not to take up immigration cases because they were racist. Such language is unparliamentary, and I would invite you, Mr. Speaker, to ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw that allegation. I raised the matter with you on Thursday and you informed me that you had not heard that remark. I must inform you that Hansard did, and it appears in the official record.
§ Mr. SpeakerI thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his point of order. As I said on Thursday, I did not hear that remark. Indeed, I do not think that many did, because the matter was not raised with me at the time. However, as the hon. Gentleman said, it is now printed in Hansard. I repeat what I said on Thursday and add that in the words of "Erskine May":
Good temper and moderation are the characteristics of parliamentary languageI hope that we shall conduct our debates on that high plane.