§ Sir Peter Emery (East Devon)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I apologise for not giving you full notice of my point of order, but may I refer you to motion No. 4 on the Order Paper concerning the business of the House? The motion is to dispose of proceedings on a motion. Although that is not unusual in the House, it is most unusual, if not unknown, that we should be asked to pass motion No. 4 before we know about the motion on which debate will be curtailed.
We are being asked to limit debate on modernisation of the House of Commons procedures, yet we have no knowledge of what the motion will contain. Once we pass motion No. 4, it will be possible for the Government to put anything in the modernisation motion, have only an hour and a half's debate on it and ride roughshod over the House. Surely you, Madam Speaker, must defend the rights of the Opposition to know what all this is about and try to assist the Government in getting such things right—even at the beginning of their period in office.
§ Madam SpeakerI am sure that such a distinguished person as the right hon. Member would not allow the Government to ride roughshod over the House.
§ Mr. William Cash (Stone)rose—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman should keep his seat until I have finished.
The right hon. Member for East Devon (Sir P. Emery) raises an interesting point, but it is very technical. He knows full well that one voice raised in objection to the motion tonight will mean that the whole thing will have to start all over again. He could therefore do just that if he is in the House at that time.
§ Mr. Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Have you received any request from Government Front Benchers to make a statement on benefits for lone parents? If you have not, will you arrange in future that all hon. Members automatically receive tickets to speeches made by the Prime Minister in which he makes major policy announcements?
§ Mr. Bernard Jenkin (North Essex)Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker.
§ Madam SpeakerDoes the hon. Gentleman have a similarly comic point of order for me?
§ Mr. JenkinI shall try to make it amusing. Social Security questions were rather dominated by a speech made by the Prime Minister that was released only at precisely 2.30 pm this afternoon. Is it not something of a discourtesy to the House that major policy announcements should be made away from the House, and at a time when we are discussing the very same subjects? Most right hon. and hon. Members do not have to hand the relevant material held by Ministers, which puts us at an unfair 20 disadvantage and represents an abuse of the procedures of the House.
§ Madam SpeakerNo, no. As far as I am concerned, the business of the House so far has been dominated by the Order Paper and questions that have been asked and answered across the Floor of the House. It is not for the Speaker of the House to determine when a Prime Minister makes a speech. No Prime Minister has ever consulted me about the time and date on which he is about to make a speech.
§ Mr. CashOn a point of order, Madam Speaker. Many may have noticed that we have not had a statement before the House from the Prime Minister following either the Noordwijk European Council meeting or the NATO-Russian pact which was signed recently.
First, I suggest that that is unprecedented. Secondly, there is something rotten in the state of this country in the way in which we are being treated if we are to be subjected to such important decisions being taken without a statement being made to the House. There is a grave danger of the House being treated by this new Government with about as much contempt as Lord North and George I treated the American colonies in the 18th century.
§ Madam SpeakerMembers on the Government Front Bench have no doubt noted what the hon. Gentleman said. Perhaps he might seek to catch my eye on Thursday at business questions. As he well knows, it is not for the Speaker to determine when statements are made; the Speaker is told when the Government wish to make statements. If he looks my way on Thursday, I shall do my best to call him.
§ Mr. Harry Barnes (North-East Derbyshire)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. During Social Security questions, 18 of the tabled questions were answered. Eleven of them were asked by my hon. Friends and seven by Opposition Members. Although those exchanges offered the official Opposition a massive opportunity to rise to ask questions, they failed to do so again and again. It was left to those on the nationalist and Liberal Benches to do that. Within a Parliament, should not an Opposition oppose and not decompose?
§ Madam SpeakerThat was barely a point of order for me. I hope that the next one is.
§ Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury)On a point of order. Madam Speaker. You will be aware that, during the recess, there was a major announcement about defence policy concerning a comprehensive review of our armed forces, which will include all aspects of its work and shape. That statement even contained comments about what sort of response the Government expected from the Opposition parties—most unusually for a Government statement. Surely it was a discourtesy to the House that that announcement was not communicated to the House in the ordinary way by means of a statement on the Floor of the House.
§ Madam SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman may like to take up that matter with the shadow Leader of the House through the usual channels. That is how decisions on statements are made.