§ Mr. John Stokes (Halesowne and Stourbridge)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this afternoon you made some remarks about the conduct of the House during Prime Minister's Question Time. If I heard you correctly, you said—I am merely paraphrasing—that a certain amount of noise was inevitable in view of our customs and traditions, and that cheering was in order. I think that those remarks will have been heard with dismay by the many hundreds of thousands of those who listen to "Today in Parliament" or "Yesterday in Parliament", who think that already there is far too much noise during Prime Minister's Questions.
Not only foreigners, but English people, cannot understand it when, before the Prime Minister has time to reply to an Opposition question, there is so much shouting on the Opposition Benches that she has to repeat herself two or three times and shout. That happens in no other country or kingdom. Although I am all in favour of rumbustiousness here, surely what happens during Prime Minister's Question Time has gone too far and should be reined in.
§ Mr. SpeakerAs the hon. Member has raised this point, I point out that I was making a distinction between cheering and jeering.
§ Mr. Neil Kinnock (Islwyn)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I realise that piety and self-righteousness are not among the attributes of the hon. Member for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Mr. Stokes). He appeared in his last contribution to stray, giving the impression that this side of the House is guilty of conduct that is inclined or intended to drown the contributions of the Prime Minister or of any other hon. Member. If the hon. Government were prepared to acknowledge—I note that he is listening—that this is a general fault, frequently repeated by the Conservative Benches, perhaps we could raise the standards of conduct by Government example.
§ Mr. SpeakerI subscribe to those views. Prime Minister's answers should generally be heard in greater silence. The point I was trying to make was that the "Hear, hears"—which are, I understand, the true interpretation of "Hear him", or perhaps even "Hear her"—have been traditional in the House for many centuries.