Points of Order (Hansard, 2 May 1990)

Several Hon. Members
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
I will take the point of order from the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) first.

§ Mr. Dennis Canavan (Falkirk, West)
On a point of order arising from the Minister's reply to Question 13. I think that the House may have been misled on an important matter. The Minister decided not to use notes when answering the question and said that four expressions of interest in self-governing status hospitals had been received, but then named only three. He may have omitted to mention the Royal Scottish National hospital in my constituency, which caters for about 700 mentally handicapped patients. As I have previously said, 96 per cent. of the staff are against the management's proposals to opt out of existing arrangements in the National Health Service. It may be that the expression of interest has been withdrawn. If so, may I ask your guidance, Mr. Speaker, as to whether the Minister can be brought back to explain the position?

§ Mr. Speaker
I cannot bring the Minister back to do that. If the hon. Gentleman tables an emergency written question, he will get an answer tomorrow morning.

§ Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to raise this point of order in the presence of the hon. Members for Bromsgrove (Sir H. Miller) and for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Sir J. Stokes). I believe that this is a House of Commons point and a genuine point of order. In written questions of 1 May, I asked the Chancellor what discussions the Customs and Excise has had with the Belgian police about the activities of the late Dr. Bull. The reply is immaterial to the point of order other than that it ends: it would be inappropriate to give any further information on these matters."—[Official Report, 1 May 1990; Vol. 171, c. 479.] Should not the House of Commons be given some kind of time scale if the Treasury cannot give the information right away? A blanket statement of that sort raises questions for Parliament, and I wonder if you, Mr. Speaker, will consider the issues involved.

§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)
On the same point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. It is for the Government to answer such matters. I cannot find the Hansard reference given by the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell).

§ Mr. Dalyell
It is a written question, column 479. Perhaps the Leader of the House, who is a QC, could look at the issues.

§ Mr. Speaker
I am sure that what the hon. Gentleman has said will have been heard on the Front Bench.

§ Mr. Winnick
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. As I said last night, there is widespread concern in the west midlands about matters rightly raised by the hon. Member for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Sir J. Stokes). There is deep concern at the way in which those involved in the firm in Halesowen are being treated.
1034 Hon. Members—a number of whom have the honour and privilege of representing constituencies in the west midlands—have sought to find out from the Department of Trade and Industry the exact dates when the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Sir H. Miller) inquired of the Department involved about the export order to Iraq. If the information were supplied, there would be no need for applications such as that made today or points of order.
People in the west midlands understandably ask the following question: if Parliament is a place in which to ventilate grievances and seek information, how is it that we are being refused the information that the hon. Member for Bromsgrove raised on the Floor of the House? All we want from the Secretary of State are the facts. When did the hon. Member for Bromsgrove seek information? If he did make the point perfectly clear on behalf of the firm, why are those people involved in the firm being treated as they are now?

§ Mr. Speaker
I cannot answer that because it is a matter for ministerial discretion. [Interruption.] Well, I cannot involve myself in the answers to questions at Question Time.

§ Mr. Alistair Darling (Edinburgh, Central)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am not one readily to raise points of order, but a problem has arisen in Scottish Question Time over the past few months. As you know, the Scottish Office covers practically every major Department of State, which means that Scottish Members have one opportunity every five weeks to raise matters.
You have made it clear, Mr. Speaker, that you have to call Members on both sides of the House—I understand that—but the problem has arisen because of the lack of Conservative Members, who sometimes get called two or three times in any one Question Time, while other Members do not get in for months on end.
Today I have discovered that the Lothian health board has deliberately decided to postpone the announcement of a major cuts package until after the local elections tomorrow, to save the skin of the Conservative party. I wanted to raise this matter in Question Time, rather than using a point of order, but because of the problem that I have described, these matters cannot properly be raised as they should be during Question Time, with the result that information is being deliberately withheld from my constituents, and Ministers cannot be held to account for that.

Several Hon. Members
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. It does not help if other hon. Members rise before I have answered the question.
It is peculiar to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that they have their own Question Time. I always call a predominant number of members of the majority party in Scotland, which happens at the moment to be the Opposition, but equally I must have regard to balancing the other side of the argument.
As far as Scottish questions are concerned, Members who are not called one month always receive some priority in the following month—

§ Mr. Darling
No, they do not.

§ Mr. Speaker
They are carefully listed on my Order Paper. What is more, the hon. Member for Edinburgh, 1035 Central (Mr. Darling) has the great privilege of being a Front-Bench spokesman, so he has other opportunities as well.

§ Mr. Nicholas Bennett (Pembroke)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. We should remember that this is the unitary Parliament of the whole of the United Kingdom, and that the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) is a Front-Bench spokesman on Home Office matters to do with England and Wales.

§ Mr. Speaker
I have just said that.

§ Mr. Bill Walker (Tayside, North)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will be aware that those of us who attend questions regularly realise the difficult position in which you regularly find yourself because you cannot possibly call everyone who is standing.
Let me make it clear that I speak as a Scot who regularly attends but is frequently not called. I understand why that is, and I make no objection to it, yet Scottish Opposition Members are regularly called more than once—sometimes as often as three times—[interruption.] I can name the Members concerned, if necessary—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I am not certain whether this is helping the hon. Gentleman: he is one of those who was called twice today. I try to ensure that, except in exceptional cases such as Scottish Question Time, Members are not called more than once. I endeavour to be as even handed as I possibly can be.

§ Mr. Walker
rose—

§ Mr. Speaker
I am not certain that this will be helpful to the hon. Gentleman, who is not exactly a deprived citizen.

§ Mr. Bill Walker
The point that I am trying to get over—[HON. MEMBERS: "What is the point of order?"] My point of order is that hon. Members who have objected—this is not the first time that we have heard such objections about Scottish questions—find that in other situations, because of the massive Conservative majority, Conservative Members often do not get called. I have studied questions over a long period, Mr. Speaker, and I think that you do a remarkable job.

§ Mr. Speaker
I am absolutely lost for words.

§ Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Port Glasgow)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Despite the fact that three Conservative Members were called twice today, and that I was not called at all, that is not my complaint. You were decent enough to call me twice at the last Scottish Question Time, but may I ask you to tell the House once more that Back Benchers and those who leap up to the Back Benches should ask brief and concise questions? Ministers, especially at Scottish Question Time, which goes out live on both BBC and STV, should offer concise answers.

§ Mr. Speaker
Let us finish on this note. I readily agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. I am constantly saying that Members should ask not only brief but single questions, and that Ministers should give brief answers. I remind the House what the Leader of the Opposition said on the day in 1987 when I was re-elected to the Chair. He said that, sadly, no Member of the House can expect to be called on the day he wants at the time he wants and on the subject that he wants.

§ Mr. Tony Favell (Stockport)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I realise that I am not at all deprived. I regularly attend for Scottish questions. I was not called today, but when I am called occasionally I deem it a privilege. I noted that today four hon. Members who were called were undemocratic enough to say that they would not pay the community charge. Two of them were from the Labour party and the other two were from the Scottish National party. Is there power to dock the parliamentary pay of those hon. Members? Is your consent required for that and, if so, will you give it?

§ Mr. Speaker
That has absolutely nothing to do with me. Every hon. Member must take responsibility for his own words and actions outside the House.

§ Mr. Harry Barnes (Derbyshire, North-East)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will remember that yesterday I raised a point of order about an answer to a parliamentary question that was submitted on 30 March to the Department of the Environment. The answer to the question has been on the desk of the Secretary of State for the Environment since the 19th of last month. However, it is still not available, because it is politically embarrassing for the Government to produce it before election day. The question seeks to find out the proportion of poll tax money, business grant and Government grants relative to local government expenditure. When I asked you, Mr. Speaker, how I could get the answer to that question, you said that by raising it, I had achieved what I wanted. I have not achieved that. Yesterday has gone and there is no sign from the Department of the Environment that an answer will be made available today.

§ Mr. Speaker
The day is early, and I hope than an answer is on the way.