§ Mr. Barry Jones (Alyn and Deeside)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I seek your help and assistance. It is noticeable that for two hours and one minute the Secretary of State for the Environment stood at the Dispatch Box, making a long complex statement and then fielding at length many questions from right hon. and hon. Members on the important matter of the poll tax. May I ask you, Sir, to help right hon. and hon. Members from Wales.
The Secretary of State for Wales has run away from the House. He has made no statement in the House, but in Cardiff he made a complex one. He has not submitted himself to any questioning and has treated Welsh Members with discourtesy. We ask whether you can bring him to the House to answer questions on an important matter. The people of Wales dislike the poll tax and have rejected it in all elections. The Secretary of State for Wales has run away. He has chickened out. He has not seen fit to show that he takes the House seriously.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member knows that that is not within my competence, but I am sure that what he said was heard by the Government Front Bench.
§ Mr. Bob Cryer (Bradford, South)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Today's Order Paper contains a motion tabled by the Leader of the House—
That this House do meet on Thursday 1st November at half-past Nine o'clock.That motion is for prorogation. I seek information about parliamentary questions. I have asked two questions, requesting information about the proposed west end development scheme in Bradford. The answer—it is not our practice, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, to reveal details of development proposals"—could be interpreted by the Table Office as a blocking answer. Will you confirm, Mr. Speaker, that after prorogation when parliamentary business falls, blocking answers also fall? This means that questions about matters of great concern to the people of Bradford can be tabled after 7 November.
§ Mr. SpeakerI understand that after prorogation questions can be tabled afresh.
§ Mr. Dick Douglas (Dunfermline, West)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the pleasantries that have been exchanged in the House today in relation to Scotland, may I have some clarification from you about your attitude when a statement is made which could have an effect on all the nations of the United Kingdom? Will you take the view that Scottish Question Time is a uniquely Scottish occasion and that English Back-Bench Tory Members should not transgress it, or will you take the view that this is a United Kingdom Parliament and that if Members keep within order they are entitled to put their questions to any Secretary of State who makes a statement from the Dispatch Box?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member knows the answer without asking the question. He well knows, because I regularly say it, that this is a United Kingdom Parliament. That is why he was called today. When he spoke to me at the Chair, I explained to him that this statement had no direct relevance to Scotland but that I would call him at the end. I did that. The hon. Member then began to ask a 1019 question about Scotland, and it was on that point that I pulled him up. This is indeed a United Kingdom Parliament, and I shall continue to act as I have always done in treating all Members equally and fairly.