HC Deb 18 January 1988 vol 125 cc671-2 3.32 pm
Mrs. Llin Golding (Newcastle-under-Lyme)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I ask you to use your influence with the Prime Minister and ask her to change her mind and to meet the parents and children—

Mr. Speaker

Order. That is not a matter for me. If the hon. Lady is called tomorrow during Prime Minister's Question Time, she can put the question directly to the Prime Minister.

Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Can you give advice, Mr. Speaker, about the way in which constituents can redress their grievances? A large group of parents, with their children, are proceeding to 10 Downing street to present a petition. They are concerned over the delay in their children being admitted to the Birmingham children's hospital— Mr. Speaker: Order. What possible point of order arises from what the hon. Gentleman has said? The issue to which he is referring is not a matter of order. There are other opportunities to raise such matters, opportunities that do not involve me.

Mr. Tam Dalyell: (Linlithgow)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The matter that I wish to raise arises from Question 28. You, Mr. Speaker, are involved indirectly through the learned Clerk of the House, who is a member of the advisory board of The House Magazine. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to clarify the status of The House Magazine. It carries the imprimatur of Parliament yet we are told that it is a private venture. If private ventures carry the arms of the Houses of Parliament, the Houses of Parliament, directly or indirectly, are involved. Indeed, another member of the advisory board is the Librarian. There is some relationship between the House and The House Magazine.

I am concerned about the finances and other matters arising from a decision of the editor of The House Magazine, the hon. Member for Staffordshire, South (Mr. Cormack), whom I am glad to see in his place, to pulp the pre-Christmas edition of The House Magazine. The decision was taken off his own bat for the ostensible reason that a review sought from a professor of journalism who is a regular contributor to The Times, contained references to certain assertions that appear on page 196 of a book written by Peter Jenkins. It is on that page that Mr. Jenkins asserts that a telephone conversation took place between two—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Is this a point of order for me?

Mr. Dalyell

How can it be that reference to a telephone conversation between Sir Brian Hayes, Grand Companion of the Bath—

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman is going into too much detail. Unlike some of the hon. Gentleman's colleagues on both sides of the House, I am not on the editorial board of The House Magazine. If the hon. Gentleman wants an answer to his questions, he should table a question to the Leader of the House, who doubtless will be briefed to answer it. I cannot answer the hon. Gentleman's questions.

Mr. Patrick Cormack (Staffordshire, South)

Further to the point of order, Mr. Speaker. The hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) has sought to pursue this matter in several ways. He has had the full facts explained to him. It is a well-known fact that The House Magazine was founded some 10 years ago. I understand—I was not associated with The House Magazine at the time—that permission for the magazine to bear the portcullis was given properly by the Services Committee and endorsed by your predecessor, Mr. Speaker. Its editorial policy, which is strictly non-party political, is supervised by Members of all parties in both Houses, and by senior Officers of the House. The magazine seeks to give information and provide a little entertainment, not to indulge in party-political polemics.

Several Hon. Members

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I do not think that the matter can be taken any further.

Mr. Graham Allen (Nottingham, North)

Further to the point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker

Order. I have already said that I do not think that we can take the matter any further, because it is not a matter of order for me. The hon. Member has heard what has been said.

Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. If there is a publication in the House that bears the portcullis—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I said that we could not take this matter any further. It is not a matter of order and not a matter for me.

Mr. Skinner

rose—

Mr. Dalyell

rose—