Points of Order (Hansard, 10 February 1987)

§ Mr. Tom Clarke (Monklands, West)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I refer to the Prime Minister's reply earlier this afternoon to myself and to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of those replies, I give notice that I will seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment of the House.

§ Mr. John Home Robertson (East Lothian)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. We have had the interesting spectacle of Government policy being made on the hoof over the past couple of days. First, we had the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is not a matter for me.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
I am asking leave to make a request of another Minister following on from all this. The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food made a statement on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Environment—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. This is a clear continuation of questions.

§ Mr. Home Robertson
No it is not.

§ Mr. Speaker
Yes it is. It is a clear continuation of questions. It is unfair to those hon. Members whom I have not called.

§ Mr. Alexander Eadie (Midlothian)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker I want to seek your guidance, and perhaps your protection. In column 38 of Hansard yesterday there is a statement by the Minister for Environment, Countryside and Planning in which he says that the Member of Parliament for Midlothian—"(Mr. Eadie)" as it says in Hansard—had accepted the fact that nuclear waste would come into his constituency. I want to make it perfectly clear that neither in this House nor outside have I made any such statement.
I understand from my secretary that the Minister will be writing to me. However, as this is an aspect of great public importance, I seek your guidance and protection, Mr. Speaker. As the statement is so grossly inaccurate, I believe that the Minister must come to the Dispatch Box and make a statement to correct his previous statement, as that is already on record in Hansard. I seek your guidance and protection, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
I cannot force any Minister to come to the Dispatch Box. However, the hon. Gentleman has correctly made his point and I am sure that that will have been heard by those on the Government Front Bench.