§ Mr. David Lidington (Aylesbury)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Earlier this morning, the social exclusion unit of the Cabinet Office published an important report on anti-social behaviour and policy measures to address that issue. Ministers were appearing in television and radio broadcasts throughout the morning to discuss the issue. Despite that, no copies of the report were made available in the Vote Office until 12 noon. They appeared only after a great deal of pressure and frequent reminders.
When I entered the Chamber about 45 minutes ago, the Library had just told me that it had yet to receive a copy of the report. I regard this as a deplorable breach of the normal courtesies of the House. It demonstrates a disdain on the part of Ministers for the rights of hon. Members on both sides of the House to know the contents of a Government report and Ministers' policy proposals. I ask you, Madam Speaker, to exercise whatever influence is available to you to ensure that there is no repetition of this sort of behaviour.
§ Madam SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman was thoughtful enough to give me a little notice of his point of order. That was helpful because I was able to ascertain that the instructions about the document, which were given by one Department to another, were to my mind perfectly clear. Unfortunately, the receiving end did not find them quite so clear. I hope that, as a result of my actions over the past hour, what the hon. Gentleman has described will not occur again.
§ Mr. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West)On a point of order, Madam Speaker. In her response to my business question a few moments ago, the Leader of the House suggested that I had given erroneous information to the Chamber. In fact, I was quoting from the commissioner's report, which was published last week. To date, having raised the matter with the Prime Minister last week and now with the Leader of the House, I have received responses which have partially and selectively quoted phrases in the report, without giving the true intent of the full sentence contained in the report.
I am concerned that the Government are clearly trying to avoid a difficult issue. I understand why it is a difficult issue—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. That is not a matter for me. I understand the hon. Gentleman's anxiety, but he seems to wish to prolong business questions. I cannot allow such arguments across the Floor of the House now.