§ Mr. Michael Howard (Folkestone and Hythe)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. This morning, in evidence to the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sir John Kerr, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office said that Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, junior Minister at the Foreign Office was briefed on the investigation into Sandline International before she answered questions in the House of Lords on 10 March. Baroness Symons did not refer to the investigation on 10 March, and when on 15 May she was asked when she knew of the investigation, she again failed to refer to that briefing. Moreover, on 6 May the Foreign Secretary gave the House the clear impression that no Minister had been briefed about the investigation until April.
As you will be aware, Madam Speaker, the matter is of fundamental importance. Everyone in the House wants the Government to play an effective part in the world. We cannot be confident that they are doing so unless they account fully, openly and honestly to the House. This morning's evidence to the Select Committee—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I am very tolerant and the right hon. and learned Gentleman is an experienced parliamentarian, but I now seek to know what the point of order is for me.
§ Mr. HowardThe relevance is this. In view of the gravity of the matter, as indicated by the proceedings before the Select Committee this morning, have you had 874 any intimation at all that the Foreign Secretary, or any of his Ministers, intend to make an urgent statement to the House, as I believe they should?
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I shall respond to that point of order, which indeed was not a point of order. The right hon. and learned Gentleman is fully aware that I certainly cannot comment on exchanges that took place in a Select Committee. The House must wait for the report of the inquiry of that Select Committee and that is the answer.
§ Mr. Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. It relates to the publication this morning of a consultative paper by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions on waste disposal in the domestic sector. As it was widely reviewed in the media this morning, I attempted to obtain a copy from the Vote Office. I have been notified that it will not be available to hon. Members until Thursday. My concern increased at lunchtime when I met the chairman and chief executive of the Local Government Association and discovered that they had been supplied with copies of the document and have been free to comment on it since this morning. Will you use your good offices to have it made available in the Vote Office without further delay?
§ Madam SpeakerI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of his point of order. I have made inquiries, and I understand that a copy of the consultation paper has been sent individually to every Member of Parliament—he might check with the Post Office—and that, at any rate, the document can be seen in the Library. Although, as he says, further copies will be available in the Vote Office on Thursday, my latest information is that every individual Member has been sent a copy of the document.