HC Deb 07 June 1988 vol 134 cc734-5

4.29

Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the latest developments concerning the leaked documents emanating from No. 10 Downing Street and the Department of Education and Science. The matter is specific because it refers to answers given on 17 May to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mrs. Fyfe), who is present, and myself in the light of the leak of a ministerial briefing to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw), the text of which was released only yesterday.

I asked on 17 May one of many direct questions about the leak coming from No. 10 Downing street: What does the Secretary of State think would occur if he confronted the Prime Minister with the truth—namely, that the leak was authorised on the Prime Minister's behalf from Downing street? The Secretary of State for Education and Science replied: The hon. Gentleman's paranoid preoccupation with plots is one of his most enduring and, indeed, endearing characteristics. I am afraid that yet again he has let his imagination run wild, and the hon. Gentleman's imagination is one of the most unpredictable elements of British politics."—[Official Report, 17 May 1988; Vol. 133, c. 788.] That made the House laugh at the time, but it appears from the leak that was released yesterday, which has not been challenged as to its authenticity by the Government, that the responsibility was indeed that of No. 10 and that it was not a matter of my imagination running wild. The Secretary of State for Education and Science knew full well when he answered the question that it was not a matter of the questioner's imagination. Rather, according to his brief which has been leaked, it is what the Department of Education and Science actually thought at the time and now actually believes.

I quote from point 2: It is by no means certain that the leak emanated from the DES. The letter was circulated by No. 10 to members of the E (EP). That is the education policy committee. That is Civil Servicese for "Downing street did it." It is an important matter because, as an old-fashioned Member of Parliament, I think that the House of Commons should not be deceived by Ministers. The House of Commons is owed the truth.

The matter is urgent because, quite clearly, somebody inside the Civil Service, possibly for the same motives as Clive Ponting, thinks that Parliament is being deceived. The truth, to the House of Commons, is a matter of urgency. Although in some ways it is trivial compared with the issues that have been raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Mr. Shore) and the hon. Member for Mid-Ulster (Rev. William McCrea), surely to heaven truth to the House of Commons is still an important and urgent matter.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely, the latest developments concerning leaked documents emanating from No. 10 Downing Street and the Department of Education and Science. I have listened with interest to what the hon. Gentleman has said, but I regret that I do not consider the matter he has raised to be appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20. I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House.

Mrs. Maria Fyfe (Glasgow, Maryhill)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. It relates to the motion of my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) concerning the letter from the Prime Minister's Office to the Secretary of State for Education and Science. When I asked the Minister on 17 May whether he had any further information, he said that he had no further information. In the light of the information published in today's newspapers, I wonder whether the Minister would care to revise his answer.

Mr. Speaker

That is not a matter for me.