§ Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford, South)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Has the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland approached you about a statement on the release of Private Lee Clegg? If that is not so, could you give me some guidance? I am Private Clegg's constituency Member of Parliament, but I have not been informed of his release this morning. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland assured me that Private Clegg would, rightly, be the first to know and, as his constituency Member of Parliament, I would be notified in due course. I understand that this morning other Members of Parliament were phoned individually to be told of Private Clegg's release and that the newspapers also had prior notification. As a Back-Bench Member of Parliament and Private Clegg's constituency Member of Parliament, I wonder if you, Madam Speaker, could help me.
§ Madam SpeakerI have not been informed that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is seeking to make a statement today, but he is a most courteous Minister and it seems that there may well have been an unintended oversight on the part of the Department. I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has raised the matter in this way as a point of order and I am sure that those on the Treasury Bench will let the Northern Ireland Office know what has taken place. Perhaps an explanation will be given to the hon. Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) who, as Private Clegg's constituency Member of Parliament, deserves to know what has happened.
§ Mr. Andrew Faulds (Warley, East)Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker.
§ Madam SpeakerNo.
§ Mr. FauldsIt is extremely relevant —
§ Madam SpeakerThat is the point—once I have dealt with a point of order, I do not take a further point of order on the subject. The hon. Gentleman's point of order cannot be relevant to the previous one as I have just dealt with it.
§ Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Have you had time to look at today's edition of The Guardian, which carries a report that the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) has retired to his newly acquired Back Bencher's Rooms in the House of Commons to hit the telephones? The implication is that the right hon. Gentleman is hitting the telephones to canvass support for the leadership election. I wonder whether you feel that that is an appropriate use of House of Commons facilities.
§ Madam SpeakerI am not prepared to comment from the Chair on newspaper reports. However, if it is a point of order for me, I shall look into the matter.
§ Mr. FauldsOn a new point of order, Madam Speaker. You mentioned the courtesy of the Minister who deals with Northern Irish matters, but I wonder whether that is correct. I wrote to him on 31 January, 29 March and, again, on 25 May and I had no response to my comments on the guilt of Private Clegg until I received a letter off the Board as I came in this afternoon. It was very courteous of him. At the end, he says that when any further developments happen, he will let me know. A development has happened. I have not heard.
§ Madam SpeakerI stand by my original statement. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a most courteous Minister, both in the duties that he carries out in Northern Ireland and in the way that he deals with hon. Members on both sides of the House. No doubt the Government Whip will make a report of the hon. Gentleman's point of order and some explanation will be given to him.