Job Losses (Hansard, 13 May 1993)

§ Mr. Rhodri Morgan (Cardiff, West)
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. It concerns the frustration that Welsh hon. Members feel about the constant repetition of the example of Shotton and the loss of jobs in the steelworks there 10 years ago, together with inaccurate employment figures that are given for Shotton. At first, the Secretary of State for Wales—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. I should be obliged if the hon. Member would come to the point of order for me and not argue his case.

§ Mr. Morgan
The frustration we feel is that parliamentary convention prevents us from saying that a lie has been perpetrated or that the House has been misled. The problem is that the same theme is being used by the Secretary of State for Wales. He first used it during the coal industry debate, when he said that the Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire coalfields did not have anything to worry about—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. Will the hon. Member please come to the point of order for me?

§ Mr. Morgan
I am concerned about the means available to Back Benchers to correct a totally incorrect impression that has been given. When jobs are lost in the shipbuilding industry in east Newcastle it is said, as the Prime Minister said today, that more jobs now exist in Shotton than existed when the steelworks were closed—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. What is the point of order for me?

§ Mr. Morgan
In fact, the number of jobs there now is only 45 per cent. Of—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. The hon. Member is a wily parliamentarian and I know full well that, in raising his point of order with me, he has his tongue in his cheek. I am not prepared to give him advice about procedure across the Floor of the House. He knows full well how to proceed in the matter. If he has a problem, he knows that I am always willing to have a chat with him in my office. My door is always open—most of the time, anyway.