§ Mr. Max Madden (Bradford, West)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I ask you to reconsider your practice when calling Front-Bench spokesmen on private notice questions? We have dealt with two such questions today, and on both occasions you called the Opposition Front-Bench spokesperson last. I think that you will agree, Mr. Speaker, that I am not usually the first to rush to the defence of my party's Front Benchers; they are generally able to look after themselves. I raise my point of order in the interests of the Labour party in general. On the first private notice question, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Howell) was called last —some minutes after the end of the television transmission, I understand.
Will you look at the matter afresh, Mr. Speaker, and in future invite the Opposition Front-Bench spokesperson to speak a little earlier rather than giving him the last slot? Otherwise, if broadcasting continues to end as early as it did today, the Labour party will be at a permanent disadvantage.
§ Mr. SpeakerI am somewhat surprised. I have always been anxious to give Back Benchers all the possible benefits and bonuses and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, it has long been the practice for Back Benchers to be cut off automatically when the Front-Bench spokesman is called. I shall of course consider what the hon. Gentleman has said, but I think that what he suggests would gravely disadvantage him and his hon. Friends. As for the television cameras, I am not responsible for when they are switched on or off; I am concerned with giving Back Benchers fair opportunities in the House.
§ Mr. Edward Leigh (Gainsborough and Horncastle)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You are responsible for ensuring that there is no tedious repetition in the conduct of our affairs. In recent weeks, however, one word has been repeated almost to the point of tedium. We have heard about flagships sinking; we have heard about flagships being blown off course.
Since Thursday, no mention of flagships has been made. I wonder whether, in the light of the election results in Wandsworth, you, Mr. Speaker, will be as generous as you have been to Labour Members who have used it in the past. Otherwise, we may be called to order if we refer too often to "flagships sailing on", or "flagships in full sail".
§ Mr. SpeakerI have become something of an expert on tedious repetition, but hon. Members are ingenious in 42 finding descriptions that are new to me. I had never heard the phrase "level playing fields", for instance, before I occupied the Chair.
§ Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am looking for an ingeniously acquired bonus. Have you received a request from the helpful Ministers at the Department of Trade and Industry to make a statement on the flagrant flouting of last Friday's referral of the subject of a Consolidated Fund Bill debate—the Atlas steelworks in Armadale—to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission?
William Cook plc of Sheffield gave an undertaking to the Office of Fair Trading that it would not require key equipment, and would not remove it from electric arc furnaces, or remove tanks that are essential to the continued operation of this important foundry.
Has the DTI done anything about the unusual circumstances in which, despite referral to the MMC, William Cook has cocked the proverbial snook to remove the possibility of the foundry and its highly skilled pattern-making work force continuing in business?
§ Mr. SpeakerI give the hon. Gentleman full marks for ingenuity, but I must tell him that I have received no request relating to a statement.
§ Mr Bob Cryer (Bradford, South )Further to the point of order raised by the hon. Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle (Mr. Leigh) about tedious repetition, on which you commented, Mr. Speaker. The use of the word "flagship" originated in the public relations office of the Conservative party, when it was applied to Bradford. You will be delighted to learn, Mr. Speaker, that that flagship has now sunk without trace. Pickles and his gang have been booted out of the town hall by a massive majority of Bradford's citizens, and that particular tedious repetition can now be forgotten.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am becoming a little tired of flagships.