§ Sir Nicholas Lyell (North-East Bedfordshire)Madam Speaker, may I raise a point of order, of which I have given you notice? Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, is a much-respected servant of the House, but he is reported as having given an interview to Counsel magazine recently, in which he is quoted as saying:
There is quite a strong case for further consideration as to whether or not we would be better off with professional politicians without outside interests.The House will recognise that such a view is highly controversial and would give rise, if proposed, to serious constitutional issues, which are matters for the House itself or for Parliament. An expression of view on the matter by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards would appear, if—I repeat, if—he has been correctly reported, to sit most uneasily with his quasi-judicial functions. Would you be kind enough to make inquiries and to inform the House of the true position and of any guidance to officers that you think may be necessary?
§ Madam SpeakerI have noted the concern expressed by the right hon. and learned Gentleman. I have seen the comments made by Sir Gordon Downey and I have been in touch with him. I shall make certain that he is aware of the concerns expressed in the exchanges that have taken place on this point of order today.
§ Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I seek your opinion on a new and highly undesirable change in the procedures of the House. Yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister was asked 19 questions, which he was expected to answer in half an hour. During business questions last week, the shadow Leader of the House asked 21 questions and my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House had only a minute or two in which to answer them. The shadow Leader of the House asked 16 questions today.
We are asked to relate business questions to the business of the House next week or in future and to request statements or debates. Of the 21 questions that the shadow Leader of the House asked last week, only seven sought statements or referred to new business of the House. Of his 16 questions today, only four sought statements or debates in the House. It is totally unreasonable to expect my right hon. Friend to provide adequate and intelligent answers to all of those questions. She is dealing with the business of the House: she is not a contestant on "Mastermind".
§ Madam SpeakerObviously the hon. Gentleman brought his abacus to business questions. I cannot say that I have been counting, but I shall examine the record. I answered some 10 questions in about seven minutes in my state rooms this morning—I wish that Ministers could do as well.
§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I seek clarification arising from your reply to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Sir N. Lyell). I assume that Sir Gordon Downey is in the same position as any other
1297 Officer of the House. While I may or may not agree with his observations, Sir Gordon performs a particular job for the House and he is entitled to express his point of view. It would be rather unfortunate if we were to try to gag him and prevent him from expressing his views.
Sir Gordon's role is to try to maintain the standards in public life that the public would like to see observed. While some may disagree with his comments—I do not believe that we could have 650 full-time politicians in the House—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman is making an observation rather than raising a point of order. In answer to the proper question that he asked at the beginning of his remarks, Sir Gordon Downey is a senior Officer of the House.
§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. You have said that you will express concern to Gordon Downey arising from the point of order raised by the Tory ex-Attorney-General, the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Sir N. Lye11). Perhaps you could also inform him that the ex-Attorney-General is one of 164 Conservative Members. He is a lawyer and he probably wants another job now that his pay has been docked.
The arithmetic tells us that there are 418 Members on the Government side, almost all of whom will not be involved in consultancies. It is conceivable that Gordon Downey did the arithmetic as well, saw what happened in the general election, and decided that that is the way we should go: one Member of Parliament, one job. The Tories are squealing because they do not have as much money as they had before.
§ Madam SpeakerAs I have said, I intend to make the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards aware of the exchanges that have taken place regarding this matter.