§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Geoffrey Lofthouse)Order. I have to acquaint the House that the message has been brought from the Lords by— [Interruption.]Order. [HON. MEMBERS: "On a point of order."] Order. I will take one point of order, of which I have already been given notice, from Dr. John Marek.
§ Dr. John Marek (Wrexham)On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I raise my point of order with you particularly in view of your statement that the only amendments that will be before us are the amendments brought from the House of Lords, labelled 1A, 1B and 1C in the Vote Office. I looked at amendment 1B in the Vote Office, and it says:
Subsection (4), line 6, leave out from ('for') to ('in') and insert ('selection as the franchisee.').If you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, look at line 6 of subsection (4) of amendment (a) from last night, you will not see the word "for". That means that you either have a different amendment from the ones that we have in the Vote Office or the amendment patently is nonsense. May I suggest to you that the only way out of this impasse is for us to have a period of consideration and for you to suspend the sitting of the House for 15 minutes?
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerIn answer to the hon. Gentleman, the line number is correct, but it refers to the italics on the bottom of the sheet.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. I have to acquaint the House—[HON. MEMBERS: "On a point of order."] Order. I have to acquaint the House that
The Lords do not insist on their Amendment to the Railways Bill to which the Commons have disagreed; they agree to an Amendment proposed by the Commons in lieu of a Lords Amendment with Amendments to which they desire the agreement of the Commons; they agree, without Amendment, to certain other Amendments proposed by the Commons in lieu of that Lords Amendment; and they agree without Amendment to Amendments made by the Commons to certain other Lords Amendments.Motion made and Question proposed, That the Lords amendments be considered forthwith.—[Mr. MacGregor.]
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerThe Question is that—
§ Mr. Nigel Spearing (Newham, South)On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May I now speak to the Question that you are about to put?
§ The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. John MacGregor)I beg to move, That this House doth disagree—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. Settle down. I shall hear the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing). The Secretary of State was not here.
§ Mr. SpearingI am much obliged.
I seek to illustrate why these messages should not be received or agreed. The Government's technical incompetence on pensions, transport, procedure and prorogation 420 shows that the Government have got themselves into a tangle that is unprecedented and unfair on British Rail pensioners and, moreover, on Members of the House.
Last night, the House agreed to a Committee withdrawing to a special room behind the Chamber to draw up reasons for the—
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the House has agreed to take the Question forthwith. The clock is running, so I hope that the hon. Gentleman will bear that in mind and bring his point of order to a rapid conclusion. [Interruption.] Order. I am listening to a point of order. Mr. Nigel Spearing. If there is no point of order, I shall call the Secretary of State.
Question put and agreed to.
Lords amendments accordingly considered.