§ Mr. Ian Bruce (Dorset, South)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I have your guidance for future reference? You will know of my interest in Scottish affairs, coming, as I do, from Scotland. I am sure that when regulations on the community charge for students are brought before the House in a year or so, the experience of hon. Members who sit for Scottish constituencies will be valuable. As you know, I have been selected to serve on the Committee that is considering the School Boards (Scotland) Bill. I attempted to speak in yesterday's debate on the community charge for students and various points that I wished to make on education, and so on, would have been valuable. However, there seems to be a way of selecting Members that rightly gives priority—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I think that that is a reflection upon the Chair. It is the duty of for the occupant of the Chair to take into account the specific interests of hon. Members. English Members have some interest in Scottish affairs, just as Scottish Members have an interest in English affairs, because this is a United Kingdom Parliament. However, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will not challenge the selection of the Chair. I understand that he intervened a great deal last night.
§ Mr. George Foulkes (Carrick Cumnock and Doon Valley)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerPoints of order only delay the Opposition day. However, I call Mr. Foulkes.
§ Mr. FoulkesFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I would be willing to meet the hon. Member for Dorset, South (Mr. Bruce) to give him the long list of Scottish debates in which I have tried, unsuccessfully, to speak, and I do represent a Scottish constituency.
§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett (Pembroke)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. The selection of Members from the Government and Opposition Benches is a matter of obvious importance to me as a Welsh member. I have no wish to challenge Mr. Deputy Speaker's decision last night, but it would be useful to have some guidance on whether the Chair seeks to choose hon. Members from both sides of the House in order to have a balanced debate—or not, as happened last night, when four Opposition Members in a row spoke despite the fact that Conservative Members wished to speak.
That has obvious implications for other debates. A similar situation arose in the Welsh Grand Committee on 15 July last year, when Opposition Members took up the majority of debating time. Last night, in the 71 minutes of debate, Government Back Benchers had nine minutes and the remainder of the time, apart from the Minister winding up for 12 minutes, went to the Opposition. Such debates could be unbalanced as a result.
§ Mr. SpeakerI must bear in mind what the hon. Gentleman says when we have a Welsh debate, because he is frequently, perhaps over-frequently, called in Welsh debates.
§ Mr. Tim Devlin (Stockton, South)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. As a matter of principle, is it correct that there is nothing to prevent English Members from being called to speak in debates relating either to Scotland or Wales?
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is absolutely correct. I know that the hon. Gentleman is not making a complaint, because we discussed that matter last night.