§ Mrs. Angela Browning (Tiverton and Honiton)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. At the beginning of business questions, the Leader of the House suggested in her response to me that I had raised within the confines of that tool of Government, the Modernisation Committee, the fact that holidays and recesses should be announced so that Members could order their business. I must put on the record the fact that I have never raised that subject in the Select Committee. I raised it in business questions on 16 November, at columns 1069 and 1070, to ensure that Ministers could discharge their duties to the House before it rose for Christmas.
I also seek your guidance, Mr. Speaker. Is it correct under the rules of the House that matters debated within the confines of a Select Committee in closed session—whether they are true or not—should not be raised on the Floor of the House?
§ The President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mrs. Margaret BeckettFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am sorry that the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning) apparently feels hurt and that she felt it necessary to raise the matter in a point of order from the Dispatch Box. I will look at the record. I am not sure whether I inadvertently misrepresented her. I was referring to remarks that she made in a debate on the Floor of the House on the report of the Modernisation Committee. I was not referring—perhaps my words were sufficiently unclear that it was not apparent—to anything that she might or might not have said in the Select Committee.
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that that should clarify the matter for the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning).
§ Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East)On a point order, Mr. Speaker. You will recall that after the statement on the rural White Paper on Tuesday 28 November I raised a point of order about the fact that I had been contacted before the statement by a journalist who gave me detailed information about the content of the White Paper. You responded by saying that I would
have to provide some clear evidence that the journalist was in fact in possession of the White Paper before it was presented to the House.—[Official Report, 28 November 2000; Vol. 357, c. 832.]At that, my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen) said that he would be able to supply you with an e-mail containing the relevant information, which he did.I have now seen your reply to my hon. Friend, in which you state:
I agree that the article contains an accurate account of some of the content of the Rural White Paper and I can understand how your suspicions were aroused that the P.A. had received an advance copy of the White Paper. I have, however, been given an assurance by 134 the Department … that copies of the White Paper were not made available to the press … I conclude that the article … was a piece of intelligent speculation by a well-informed journalist.Will you reaffirm for the benefit of the House and reassure me that it is not simply that a Department must not give journalists advance sight of a White Paper, but that it must not give them advance knowledge of its contents before it has been made available to us in the House?
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is the case. The content of any White Paper should not be given to anyone until it is put to the House. I would disapprove of giving someone sight of a White Paper or of any discussion of its content. I hope that that helps the hon. Gentleman.