§ Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. You will have noticed the fine body of parliamentary persons who sponsor the Bill promoted by the hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson). By dint of queueing, I promoted a ten-minute Bill last Tuesday. Parts of my speech were played on "The World This Weekend". I was put out when asked on that programme which Minister listened to my speech, because no Minister, either from the Ministry of Defence or the Foreign Office, was on the Front Bench to do so. I noticed that there was no one from the Department of Trade and Industry to listen to the hon. Gentleman's speech today. I shall be very blunt: if the Government of the day had listened years ago to the House of Commons and the hon. Gentleman when he promoted his previous Bills—I served on the Committee that considered one of them—we would not be in the bloody mess that we are today about the millennium bug. That applies to both Governments concerned.
§ Madam SpeakerThat is barely a point of order. I see on the Front Bench not only the Leader of the House, who is responsible for the subject of the ten-minute Bill, but a galaxy of Ministers, all of whom I know share some responsibility for the subject.