HC Deb 08 July 1997 vol 297 c771 3.30 pm
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot)

On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I know that you have responsibility for the printing of our proceedings, and it occurred to me that Hansard may have been misled by the answer I was given earlier by the hon. Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Lloyd), who suggested that I was a member of the former Government with responsibility for defence exports. For the benefit of Hansard, may I point out that, so far from being a Minister, I was not even in the last Parliament? But my right hon. Friends did a fantastic job for Britain in the promotion of defence exports.

Madam Speaker

That is barely a point of order for me.

Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold)

On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Have you received a request from Foreign Office Ministers to make a statement on the attitude of the French authorities? I learned this morning that a constituent of mine, a British passport holder, has been told that he may not leave the camp site he is on in France while the French authorities investigate whether he is liable for French conscription—the second such case in a fortnight. Can you ask Foreign Office Ministers for a statement on what appears to be an increasing trend on the part of the French authorities? British passport holders should surely be free to travel in France without fear of arrest.

Madam Speaker

I am not aware that any Minister is seeking to make a statement on that matter today. I might advise the hon. Gentleman to make representations himself to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, since the case concerns a constituent for whom he has some responsibility.