§ Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I ask for your ruling on the conduct of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food? At Agriculture questions last week I was drawn to ask oral question 7, which was:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture to make a statement on the Government's policy in respect of the regulation of imports of French beef into the United Kingdom.I received a letter from the Minister of Agriculture stating that the matter was being transferred to the Department of Health. I telephoned the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and was told that although my question was not about health, the Minister had judged that that was the basis for the question, and moreover, that the regulation of imports of French beef into the United Kingdom was not a matter for the Minister of Agriculture.I am raising the matter now on a point of order because yesterday the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food issued a press release in which the Minister of Agriculture dealt with precisely the question that I asked. He claimed to have written to the Prime Minister about it and to have raised the matter at the Council of Ministers in Brussels. Is it not out of order, and grossly discourteous to the House, for Ministers unilaterally to pull awkward and untimely oral questions? Can you give us some protection, Mr. Speaker, when Ministers engage in such activity?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. What Ministers say outside the House has nothing to do with me. The hon. Gentleman informed me in advance of his point of order, but I am afraid that I cannot help him. "Erskine May" makes it clear that it is a long-established principle that decisions on the transfer of questions rest with the Minister, not the Chair. I note that the hon. Gentleman waited two weeks to raise this matter with me, and I hope that in future such cases are put in writing and do not take up valuable time on the Floor of the House.
§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. For quite some time there have been comments in the press that this Parliament is such that the House of Commons no longer counts, is virtually dead and so on. May I bring to your attention, Mr. Speaker—although that is not really necessary, as you were here for part of the time—our debate last night on immigration appeals and the controversy over fees. Does that not demonstrate the fact that the House of Commons is far from dead? Moreover, as a result of the deep concern expressed by my hon. Friends, the Home Secretary conceded an important point in his concluding remarks.
I bring this to your attention, Mr. Speaker, only because some of us are sick and tired of the accusation that the Chamber no longer counts in this Parliament. Last night, quite apart from all the other occasions, that accusation was given the lie.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman makes a valuable point, and I do not need to add anything to what he said.
§ Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst)Further to the point of order raised by the hon. Member for
175 Twickenham (Dr. Cable), Mr. Speaker, would you consider looking again at the way in which Ministers can delay and prevaricate on questions, and see if you can satisfy yourself about the relationship that should exist between the House of Commons and the Executive? If, by transferring or deferring questions, Minister are able to avoid being held accountable for the very thing that the House is supposed to hold them accountable for—their conduct as Ministers—surely that relationship has broken down. I am not asking for an answer now Mr. Speaker, but can you think about the role that you might play in seeking to restore that balance before Ministers run riot and avoid this place altogether.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe right hon. Gentleman knows more about being a Minister than I do. However, I would advise him to take these matters up with the Procedure Committee.
§ Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerI will take a point of order from the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner).
§ Mr. SkinnerIf you do any research into the subject of transferring questions, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that you take some advice from the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth), who used to be a Minister, and was one of those Euro-fanatics. The right hon. Gentleman also supported all the modernisation that took place under the Tories. If you do some research on him, Mr. Speaker, you will find that he transferred more questions than most of the others put together.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman is making a point, rather than a point of order.
§ Mr. BercowFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I, for one, am most grateful to you for your guidance about reference to the Procedure Committee. Nevertheless, would you take this opportunity to confirm that so far as ministerial answers to oral questions are concerned, filibustering is out of order?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman is quite right. Filibustering from any part of the House is out of order.