HC Deb 13 March 1997 vol 292 cc509-11

4.2 pm

Mr. Harry Greenway (Ealing, North)

On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Bearing in mind the serious discourtesy to the House displayed by a Member of Parliament in leaking the report of the Select Committee on Education and Employment about nursery education—even before it was completed last evening, judging by the inaccurate representations that have appeared in the press—I ask you to protect the standards of the House by having each member of the Select Committee interviewed with a view to establishing who leaked that very important document so that that hon. Member may make her apologies to the House.

Madam Speaker

As I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware—he may recall the wise words of the Leader of the House at the Dispatch Box a few moments ago—the issue is a matter for the Committee to investigate. The Committee has full authority to investigate the matter itself, and it can proceed to do so at any time. The Committee may then wish to report the matter for action to the House.

I fully support the comments made by the Prime Minister today at the Dispatch Box. Speaking for myself, I have nothing but disdain for individuals who give our working documents and unpublished reports to the press before they are available to the House.

Mr. Michael Brown (Brigg and Cleethorpes)

Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker

I have just given a ruling.

Mr. Brown

It is a different point.

Madam Speaker

No. The matter is concluded. I have said absolutely everything that I needed to say. I gave the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) an opportunity, and I have now made my ruling.

Mr. Clive Soley (Hammersmith)

Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. My point arises from the procedure of Select Committees. I understand that it is always open to an hon. Member who is serving on a Select Committee, even if he or she is out of the Room when a decision is reached in that Committee, to express dissent in the ensuing report, as long as he or she does so—

Mr. Brown

I did.

Mr. Soley

That is as long as he or she does so before the report is finally published and before it is recorded in the report.

Mr. Brown

I did, and I want that recorded now.

Mr. Soley

I do not raise the matter in relation to the hon. Member for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown), who is calling out from a sedentary position. I am not referring to the hon. Gentleman. The House will know that some comments have been made on the radio to the effect that Members who have been outside the Room and have not voted on a particular issue have not been able to dissent from the ensuing report. As a Chairman of a Select Committee—I think that what I am about to say applies to any other Select Committee—I take the view that every member of the Committee has the right to record dissent before the Committee finally approves the report.

Madam Speaker

The hon. Gentleman, who is very experienced, is absolutely correct. Reports that we read in the newspapers and hear on the radio are not always as accurate as we are in the House.

Mr. Brown

Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. The point of order that I wish to raise follows directly from the point of order made by the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley). I wish to place it on record that I voted against the report. That is why I wonder whether it is possible for the Select Committee to print the report now so that I can assure the nation that I voted against the report.

Madam Speaker

I think that the hon. Gentleman has done very well in informing the nation of his views on the subject.

Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)

On a point of order, Madam Speaker. This point of order is not about informing the nation but concerns your unfulfilled expectations. When responding to points of order on 11 March you said: The Minister said that he would respond as soon as possible". You added, and I expect him to do so."—[Official Report, 11 March 1997; Vol. 292, c. 145.] I was a parliamentary colleague of Bernadette McAliskey. I was not one of her greatest admirers by any means, but I think that in addressing our first woman Speaker of the House I should say something about Bernadette McAliskey's daughter, who is pregnant, who is being held in prison in unacceptable conditions. The House should be told about the matter. To treat pregnant women in prison like this—

Madam Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman is trying to have a debate on an important issue that is not before the House. I made my position clear the other day when I said—I repeated what the Minister had said—that the Minister would reply to the question as soon as possible. I expect him to do precisely that.

Mr. Harry Greenway

rose—

Madam Speaker

Mr. Greenway is getting ready for yet another point of order.

Mr. Greenway

In terms of procedure, Madam Speaker—I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley) for his point of order—is it a fact that a Member who is out of the Room when the final decision to approve a Select Committee report is taken—

Madam Speaker

I have nothing further to report on that matter. It has all been done.

Mr.Greenway

rose—

Madam Speaker

The hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway) has been in the House for a long time and he knows our procedures. We have all been through the matter only recently.

Mr. Graham Riddick (Colne Valley)

Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. I, too, want to make it clear to the nation that I, like my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown), voted against this dog's dinner of a report.

Madam Speaker

Thank you very much.