HC Deb 11 May 1989 vol 152 cc1011-2 4.15 pm
Mr. Greville Janner (Leicester, West)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. This is a matter on which I have given you notice, albeit brief.

The answers to questions 14 and 15, answered by the Foreign Secretary or a junior Minister, were unfortunately omitted from yesterday's Hansard. I am sure that that was simply an error, but on this occasion it was a sad one because question 15—

Mr. Robert Hughes (Aberdeen, North)

—was your question.

Mr. Janner

It was my question, of course.

I asked a question to which, not surprisingly, the Government did not give an answer. It concerned the Government's deplorable failure to take any action on the proposed Nazi rally this weekend. That should not have been omitted from Hansard. May I ask, please that that matter be drawn to the attention of the Editor of Hansard and that there be some procedure so that when an emergency is recognised there can be a special printing of the missing material, which can perhaps be delivered as a leaflet to at least 35 million homes?

Mr. Speaker

I thank the hon. and learned Member for drawing that to my attention. In the interests of accuracy, I must tell him that question 14 was answered with question 3 and was correctly reported in Hansard.

Mr. Janner

Only mine was left out.

Mr. Speaker

Yes, the hon. and learned Gentleman's question was left out. That was a mistake and it will be corrected in Hansard. The missing text will have been reinstated when the bound volume is published.

Mr. Bob Cryer (Bradford, South)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You have a duty to announce to the House when any hon. Member is charged with a criminal offence, but I am unclear whether that would be the case if a Minister was imprisoned for contempt. Since the leaflets that were the subject of an injunction yesterday are apparently still being delivered today, it would be interesting to know whether the Secretary of State for the Environment is in imminent danger—welcomed by many millions—of being committed to prison. We should know whether it would be incumbent on you, Mr. Speaker I o make the necessary announcement.

Mr. Speaker

That is a hypothetical question. If, sadly, any hon. Member were to be arrested, I have a duty to report that, but the hon. Gentleman raises a different matter.

Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North)

Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. A number of people in my constituency have expressed concern that yesterday the Minister for Local Government claimed that the London borough of Islington was distributing misleading leaflets about the poll tax. That is not the case. The leaflets are accurate. They have been legally cleared and no action has been taken against the borough council. What can be done in the House to correct the information given by the right hon. Gentleman so that the people of Islington can be assured that the information they are receiving from the borough council is correct, in contrast to the information that they are receiving from the Government?

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Gentleman has just done it.