§ Mr. Dick Douglas (Dunfermline, West)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. On occasion I have been on the receiving end of colourful verbal strictures from your good self. No one wants to incur your displeasure, Mr. Speaker, but could you nevertheless take time to examine the method and approach that you seem to be adopting in relation to the calling of Opposition and Government Members in Scottish Question Time?
As I understand the proceedings of the House, Question Time is an occasion for hon. Members to put the Executive—that is, the Government—under pressure. It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that the supporters of the Government whom you choose to call do not do that. Today a Conservative Member was called who had put down no question whatever for Scottish Question Time. When he had put his supplementary he departed the House—only to return again, such was his interest. He thus prevented many Opposition Members from putting genuine questions, of interest to their constituents, to the Government and putting pressure on the present particularly objectionable Secretary of State for Scotland and his cohort.
§ Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The Minister's reply to the question asked by the right hon. Member for Kincardine and Deeside (Mr. Buchanan-Smith) may have misled the House somewhat. The Minister said that the question of metered water rates was for the discretion of the regional councils, yet he has—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I think that the hon. Gentleman will have to take that up with the Minister rather than with me. It is not a matter for me, and I have no idea whether what the hon. Gentleman has said is right or wrong. What is the point of order?
§ Mr. BruceThe related point of order is that the right hon. Member for Kincardine and Deeside was called twice, while some Opposition Members were not called once. When the Government are bringing in English Members to ask questions, it seems unreasonable that their Scottish Members should be called twice, keeping Opposition Members from being called at all.
§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett (Pembroke)rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerWill it be helpful?
§ Mr. BennettI hope so.
§ Mr. SpeakerI hope so, too.
§ Mr. BennettFurther to the point of order of the hon. Member for Dunfermline, West (Mr. Douglas), Mr. Speaker. You will recall that in questions to the English Department of Health on 13 December the Opposition Front Bench consisted of the hon. Members for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Galbraith), for Monklands, West (Mr. Clarke) and for Livingston (Mr. Cook). There were three Scottish Labour Members questioning the English Health Department.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Helpful, but I think that it would be a good idea if I dealt with this.
§ Mr. John McFall (Dumbarton)rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am on my feet; allow me to deal with this.
I do not think that I need repeat to the House that we are a United Kingdom Parliament. I weigh the rights of majorities in the House very carefully, but the rights of minorities must also be taken into account. Today 35 Scottish Members were called, and 11 Members representing English constituencies. Four of those had questions on the Order Paper, and one of the questions was about forestry, a matter that concerns the entire United Kingdom and is answered for by a Scottish Minister. It is a very difficult balance, but I do my best to be utterly fair.
§ Mr. Bob Cryer (Bradford, South)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I wish to raise a matter of serious concern. Today's edition of The Guardian contains a statement that the European Commission is prepared to bulldoze this country into accepting a gross lorry weight of 44 tonnes. You will recall, Mr. Speaker, the then Secretary of State for Transport making a solemn statement that the current maximum of 38 tonnes would be retained.
Have you, Mr.Speaker, received any notification of a statement from the Secretary of State for Transport to make it clear that the Government will resist any imposition of a new limit by the Common Market? Although the Government have removed the right to a veto on transport matters, they should be here to prevent the arrival of more juggernauts on our already overcrowded roads as a result of the arbitrary fiat of the Common Market.
§ Mr. SpeakerI have received no such notification, but let me tell the hon. Gentleman and the whole House that we in this United Kingdom Parliament feel that no one should bulldoze us.
§ Mr. Thomas McAvoy (Glasgow, Rutherglen)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I do not want to delay the House unnecessarily, but you may recall that this afternoon the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland said in reply to a question that I had asked with reference to the Minister of State's use of the word "fluctuation" in relation to Alzheimer's disease that what I had said was wrong and untrue—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is taking time out of the Welsh debate. I cannot be responsible for what is said by the Minister at the Dispatch Box, or any other hon. Member. This is not a point of order for me.
§ Mr. McFallOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I was present for the entire hour of Scottish Question Time and stood up in vain on six questions, while watching hon. Members with no constituency interests in Scotland being called and departing the Chamber. I had put my name down for the ballot and had been drawn seventh. I subsequently discovered that my question had been transferred to the Department of Education and Science.
292 That question concerned a burning issue in Scotland —the possible closure of the Glasgow veterinary school —and it should have been debated in the Chamber today. If that is not of real concern to the people of Scotland, what is? What advice can you give me, Mr. Speaker, so that—as one of my hon. Friends said earlier—the people of Scotland can genuinely question the Executive on such issues?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I do not know about the transfer of the question, and I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman was not called. Perhaps I may quote to him and the House the wise words of the Leader of the Opposition when I was chosen to be Speaker for the second time. He said that, sadly, in this place no Member can expect to be called on the day that he wants, at the time that he wants and on the subject that he wants.
§ Mr. Harry Ewing (Falkirk, East)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I shall put my point of order in my best Welsh accent. I know that you are not responsible for what Ministers say at the Dispatch Box, but today I believe that the Secretary of State for Scotland inadvertently misled the House. I questioned the right hon. and learned Gentleman about Shell's proposal to construct a pipeline between Grangemouth and England to pipe ethylene. In his reply the Secretary of State said he understood that there was a pipeline already between Grangemouth and England. But there is no such pipeline. Shell's proposal is a new approach and the Secretary of State inadvertently—I do not believe for one minute that the right hon. and learned Gentleman intended it; no lawyer ever does anything that he is not sure of—misled the House. I am glad that the Under-Secretary of State is present to carry that message back to his boss; and I shall look for a letter tomorrow.
§ Mr. SpeakerI am sure that what the hon. Gentleman has said will have been heard.