§
Mr. Kenneth Hind accordingly presented a Bill to make a holding company responsible for certain debts of its wholly-owned subsidiary in liquidation; and to make other provision for such circumstances:
And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time upon Monday 28 October and to be printed. [Bill 213.]
§ Mr. Donald Thompson (Calder Valley)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. We have just heard my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) give a long catalogue of apparently disgraceful events. He said—you rightly brought him to order on it, Mr. Speaker—that he had received a threatening letter. What redress does he have if this turns out to be contempt?
§ Mr. SpeakerIf an hon. Member alleges that there has been contempt, he should address a letter to me on the matter, and I shall look into it most carefully.
§ Mr. Harry Ewing (Falkirk, East)Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. This is an important point, and I apologise for interrupting the proceedings. Is it not the case that, once an hon. Member uses a communication that he has received and that may be the basis of a contempt complaint, he cannot then raise a complaint of contempt with you or with the Select Committee set up to consider that? My understanding—I could easily be wrong, having been wrong so many times before—is that one is not allowed to raise such a matter on the Floor of the House if a complaint is to be made, and if an hon. Member feels that privilege has been breached, he should take that point up immediately, without raising the substance of the complaint on the Floor of the House. As I understand it, the hon. Gentleman has now raised the substance.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman is right. If contempt is alleged, the hon. Gentleman involved should raise the matter with the Chair at the first opportunity. The Chair will then decide whether the contempt should go to the Committee of Privileges. The hon. Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind) did not take that action, and presumably he will not do so now that it has been raised on the Floor of the House.