§ Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. My point of order, of which I have given you notice, concerns the Prime Minister's answer to the questions of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition yesterday. In reference to the shareholding in BP by the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe, Lord Simon, the Prime Minister said:
The Minister has retained the BP shares because he is obliged to do so. Having been the chairman of BP, if he got rid of them he would fall foul of the rules on insider trading."—[Official Report, 30 July 1997; Vol. 299, c. 331.]As that did not accord with my understanding of the model code for directors contained in the stock exchange listing rules or the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 on insider trading, I sought advice from the House of Commons Library. It gave me a long response, part of which I should like to quote. On the specific question whether the Minister would have been permitted, as a former director of BP, to deal in BP shares under the model code, it said:
This would suggest a possible selling window between the ending of the close period on 6 May 1997 and at the latest the start of the next close period on 5 July 1997.Unless the Minister had price-sensitive or other information that precluded him from dealing in his shares—information that was not disclosed to BP shareholders with the interim results—or BP has a code of practice stricter than the model code, it would appear that the Prime Minister inadvertently misled the House with his answer and that the Minister was entitled to deal in his shares.Should that be the case, I feel that the Prime Minister will wish to come before the House at the first available opportunity to put the record straight. As today is Parliament's last sitting day before the recess, do you agree that it would be proper for him to come to the House today to make sure that there is no more confusion?
§ Madam SpeakerWe have had many robust exchanges on this issue in recent times. Those on the Front Bench will have heard what the hon. Gentleman said, which is not a point of order for me to deal with.
§ Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I should like to draw attention to what happened yesterday in the House. I fear that the Government might be tempted to fall into some of the very bad practices of the previous Government, particularly that of routinely issuing policy changes and various announcements on the final day before a recess, which cannot be discussed by Parliament.
Yesterday, the Home Secretary was at the Dispatch Box for a whole hour, yet, remarkably, he did not once mention the drugs tsar or tsarina. We heard this morning that the Government are going ahead with that policy. It is well known that in America, the drugs tsar has been a disaster and has been described as a drugs nanny. Drugs tsars have not worked in any part of the world. All of us in the House who want to reduce the harm caused by the use of illegal drugs believe that the drugs tsar policy 453 cannot work and is another excuse for not thinking and not having genuine reform, such as would result from the institution of a royal commission on the subject.
§ Madam SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman is expressing an opinion, not a point of order. He must pursue the matter through questions.
§ Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. It will not have escaped your attention that the President of the Board of Trade, in reply to a supplementary asked by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth) to Question 12, said that the Government were bound by the criteria on European aid set down by the Commission. In reply to my supplementary to Question 13, however, the right hon. Lady said that the Government were not bound by the criteria. Could the House be given clarification? I believe that we are not bound by the criteria and that the right hon. Lady can negotiate.
§ Madam SpeakerI fear that the hon. Lady is seeking to prolong Question Time, which was over at 3.30 pm.
§ Mr. Tony Baldry (Banbury)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. In the most recent Question Time, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food kindly undertook, in the interests of openness and transparency, to ensure that all the responses that the Government had received to the consultation on Professor James's report on the food standards agency would be put in the Library of the House before the summer recess.
To date, all that has been put in the Library is a list of those who responded. Those of us who are keen to do some good summer reading would like the opportunity to read the whole lot during the recess. Can you, bring your influence to bear on the private office of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to ensure that all the responses are put in the Library before we rise for the summer recess?
§ Madam SpeakerI shall look at the response that was given and see what I can do about it. I am delighted that hon. Members want so much bedside reading.