§ Mr. Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)I am sponsored as a Member of Parliament by the National Union of Mineworkers. I wish to draw the attention of the Committee of Privileges to the guidelines for sponsored Members of Parliament first issued by the Yorkshire area of the NUM in 1975, which, at the time, the Committee of Privileges judged to be a serious contempt. The then president of the national NUM acceded to the Committee's request to nullify the decision. All those developments are spelt out in the second report of the Committee of Privileges, published in the 1974–75 Session.
The matter rested there until December 1990, when the general secretary of the Yorkshire area of the NUM reissued the guidelines in a letter to me. I have pointed out to the general secretary of the Yorkshire area the events of 1975 and asked him to withdraw the guidelines. He has declined to do so. I therefore believe that I have no alternative but to ask the House to refer the complaint to the Committee of Privileges.
I therefore beg to move,
That the matter of the complaint be referred to the Committee of Privileges.
§ Question put and agreed to.