§ Mr. Michael Howard (Folkestone and Hythe)On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Have you seen the reply of the Foreign Secretary to my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire), in which the Foreign Secretary admits that he was sent and saw the report on human rights of the Foreign Affairs Committee before it was published, and that a draft of the Committee's report on enlargement, which has still not been published, was sent to his office in January and seen by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Ms Quin), but not by him because—I quote from his answer—it "was not controversial"?
Should not the Foreign Secretary be summoned to the House to make a statement about that further astonishing example of his and the Government's contempt for Parliament? Will Madam Speaker widen the scope of her letter of 1 March to the Chairman of the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges to include those latest examples of the Foreign Secretary's ethical foreign policy?
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael J. Martin)Order. Those are matters for the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. [Interruption.]
§ Mr. Howardrose—
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. The last thing that I need is for hon. Members to shout. I hope that the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) will not pursue this matter. I have ruled that the question of these leaks is a matter for the Foreign Affairs Committee. It is within that Committee's domain.
§ Mr. Tom King (Bridgwater)Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. When this matter arose on a previous occasion, I asked Madam Speaker to ensure that it would be looked into so that we could have a ruling about whether it is thought to be proper conduct for a Minister to receive, hold and not return, without apology, a Select Committee report. Madam Speaker gave a prompt answer, for which I am grateful, to say that this was—
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. Madam Speaker has already made clear her feelings on the matter. It is now before the Committee on Standards and Privileges. In answer to the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe, I have said that this is a matter for the Foreign Affairs Committee.
§ Mr. Donald Anderson (Swansea, East)Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It might be for the convenience of the House if I explain the decision that has just been taken in the Foreign Affairs Committee. As the House will know, there was a special report of that Committee which will, as I understand it, pass automatically to the Standards and Privileges Committee. 1313 It is that Committee's report which will ultimately be debatable in the Chamber. On the latest developments, the Foreign Affairs Committee has today started the procedure which is set out clearly on page 670 of "Erskine May". That procedure will now be under way and, as you have already ruled, the matter is still with the Foreign Affairs Committee.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. I thank the hon. Gentleman. There is nothing more to add.
§ Mr. Quentin Davies (Grantham and Stamford)Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Surely a matter of the honourable or dishonourable conduct of Members of the House and the question of the integrity or otherwise of our Select Committee system must be matters of concern to the House.
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerThe House has an established procedure for dealing with matters of this sort. I have described that procedure and I can say no more.
I may have interrupted the right hon. Member for Bridgwater (Mr. King). I will allow him to complete his point of order.
§ Mr. KingMy point was not specifically about the Foreign Affairs Committee, but deals with the wider issue of Select Committees. I have raised this matter with Madam Speaker and I simply want to reinforce a point. Madam Speaker has made it clear that she takes seriously the issue of Select Committee reports being given to Ministers who then retain and study them and do not return them to the House, and I believe that she intends to make a ruling. I am asking a simple question. The written answer indicates that two more Select Committee reports have been leaked, and I am simply asking that we follow the same procedure. May I ask you politely, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to refer this matter to Madam Speaker in the hope that she will include this in her ruling?
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerThat will be done because the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Standards and Privileges Committee are looking at this matter.