§ Mr. Michael Meacher (Oldham, West)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Have you received a request from the Chancellor of the Duchy to make a statement on today's revelation of the Cabinet Office efficiency scrutiny report, which shows that the cost of employing consultants —[HON. MEMBERS: "Bogus."]—that the savings from employing consultants is only 2 per cent. of the cost of using them?[Interruption.]
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. It is a simple answer: no. [Interruption.]
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I have answered the point of order. The question was, have I received a request from a Minister? The answer is no.
§ Mrs. Jane Kennedy (Liverpool, Broadgreen)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I have received your letter concerning the conduct of the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton) in breach of the rules governing the use of the House of Commons emblem in writing to constituents outside his own constituency on party political matters. In the letter, the Serjeant at Arms has made it clear that an explanation has been given by the hon. Member. Would you pass on to the House that explanation in view of the fact that the hon. Member is an experienced Member of the House and has been in breach of those rules before?
§ Madam SpeakerAs it concerns the hon. Lady and her constituency, I shall certainly see that she gets the explanation to which she is entitled.
§ Madam SpeakerThat answer applies to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) in the same way; and I shall see that he gets an explanation too.
§ Mr. Kilfoylerose—
§ Madam SpeakerIs it on a different point of order?
§ Mr. KilfoyleIt is further to the point of order.
§ Madam SpeakerThere can be no further point of order. I know that the hon. Lady and the hon. Gentleman represent neighbouring constituencies. The point of order applies to them both, and I shall let him have an explanation.
§ Mr. D. N. Campbell-Savours (Workington)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the point that is being made is that my hon. Friend the Member for Walton would like a public statement which sets out the rules exactly.
§ Madam SpeakerIf a public statement is required to set out the rules, I shall certainly be prepared to provide one so that every hon. Member will know about the rules. If that is the case, I shall certainly see that a public statement is made as early as possible. I shall be delighted to make an announcement. It is not often that I get time to say anything.
§ Mr. KilfoyleOn a point of order, Madam Speaker. In addition to the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Broadgreen (Mrs. Kennedy), is not it an affront to the House that, notwithstanding the fact that the letter which I received gave an assurance that there would not be a repetition of the distribution of the smear letter, dated 21 April, which has been going out in various constituencies in Liverpool since then, those same letters have been distributed in constituencies outside Mossley Hill? Is not that contempt of the House?
§ Madam SpeakerI shall certainly look at the matter that the hon. Gentleman raises and I shall be prepared to make a statement to the House on the general question of the use of our stationery for political matters.
§ Mr. Simon Burns (Chelmsford)Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. If I heard the hon. Member for Broadgreen correctly, she said that the problem involving the hon. Member for Mossley Hill had happened before. If that statement by the hon. Lady is correct, surely only slapping hon. Members on the hand for something and allowing them to do it again is not satisfactory.
§ Madam SpeakerThat is why I intend to make a statement about the matter. The hon. Member for Liverpool, Broadgreen (Mrs. Kennedy) will receive the explanation that I promised to give. I have been asked if I will make a statement to the House on the principle of the use of stationery for party political purposes, and I have agreed to do so. What I have said should be absolutely clear.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennett (Denton and Reddish)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is a convention of the House that, when a Minister quotes from a document, the document is placed on the Table so that other hon. Members may see whether the quotations are correct. At Question Time today the Prime Minister, in answer to one of my hon. Friends, quoted certain words. I hope that you, Madam Speaker, will ensure that the document in question is placed on the Table at the earliest opportunity.
§ Madam SpeakerIt needs to be a direct quotation from a state paper. However, I shall check Hansard, and if the hon. Gentleman is correct I shall see that our conventions are observed.