§ Mr. Bill Walker (Tayside, North)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I tried to catch your eye earlier on this matter. You will agree that Question Time is precious to Back Benchers because it is our one opportunity to question Ministers on specific subjects. You will notice that the last question we reached today, No. 21, was on the important topic of the Scotch whisky industry. That question cannot be put to a Scottish Minister and must be answered by the United Kingdom Department that deals with these matters. You will also be aware that during Question Time Members were not given an opportunity to ask questions because of the many interruptions. That reduced the time available. Otherwise—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I understand the hon. Gentleman's point. But for several questions which were withdrawn today we probably would not have got as far as question 21.
§ Mr. WalkerThat does not change the point I am trying to make, which is that if hon. Members interrupt questions, however justified their reasons may be, Back Benchers suffer. Usually it is Back Benchers who make the noise, and this seems to me an opportunity to draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to that fact. I drew attention to the question about Scotch whisky, but my point applies to any question; it just happened to be one that is important for Scotland, and that is why I drew your attention to it.
§ Mr. SpeakerI hope that the hon. Gentleman will recollect, as he was here at Question Time, that I drew attention to the very matter he has raised: the more interruptions we have during Question Time, the slower we proceed.