§ Mr. Roy Beggs (East Antrim)On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wish to raise an issue of which I have given prior notice to Mr. Speaker. I have also given prior notice to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson), in contrast to her attack on my right hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) in her speech on Monday night.
On 18 July this year, the Newtonards Chronicle published an article entitled, "Robinson lashes Belfast agreement in Commons", in which she also attacked my right hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann, the leader of the Ulster Unionist party. The piece began:
Strangford MP Iris Robinson has addressed the House of Commons on the Opposition day debate on the Northern Ireland peace process.I was most confused when I read those words because, having attended the debate, I had no recollection of the hon. Member being called. In fact, a later close inspection of the Official Report confirmed that she had not been.The hon. Member for Strangford did speak in Monday evening's summer recess Adjournment debate. Another inspection of the Official Report revealed that her remarks were almost identical to the speech that the Newtonards Chronicle obviously believed she had delivered to this House almost a week ago.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I seek your ruling on two specific matters. First, do you consider it appropriate for an hon. Member to claim to have delivered a speech in this House when that was not, in fact, the case? Secondly, is it not a serious breach of parliamentary convention for an hon. Member to release to the press a word-perfect copy of their intended remarks to the House in advance of them actually being delivered—at least four days in advance, in this case?
§ Madam Deputy Speaker (Sylvia Heal)On behalf of the Speaker, I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving Mr. Speaker notice of his point of order. Mr. Speaker has inquired into the matter.
It appears that the speech quoted in the press was given in the House after it had been printed in the newspaper. What is published in the press is primarily a matter for the newspaper and for the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson). But this is not a practice that the Chair would encourage.
§ Mr. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West)On a point of order Madam Deputy Speaker. This is further to a point of order that I raised yesterday about an incident in which a written answer to me was read out by a Minister in another place before it had been delivered by the Department to me. Baroness Ashton has written me a letter of apology, which I fully accept—I do not regard her as in any way responsible. None the less, may I seek a ruling from the Chair that such conduct is unacceptable and that Departments are expected to achieve a better standard in dealing with answers to right hon. and hon. Members?
§ Madam Deputy SpeakerIt is most unfortunate that the terms of the answer to the hon. Gentleman's question 1019 were given in the other place in the way that he described yesterday, before the question had been answered in this House. As he has said, he received a holding answer to the question on 22 July and the Department is to reply fully today. The Minister concerned has written to the him. May I suggest that he leaves it at that?
§ Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire)On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. It has been reported in the press that a number of questions tabled by right hon. and hon. Members have been lost, mislaid or just not answered by Ministers. Will you inquire of the Government during the recess how many questions are outstanding and check that all those questions have been answered by the end of the recess?
§ Madam Deputy SpeakerI regret to inform the hon. Member that that is not a matter for the Chair. Perhaps hon. Members who have outstanding questions will pursue that with the Departments or the Table Office.
§ Mr. Simon Thomas (Ceredigion)On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I draw your attention to the increasing practice of releasing unfortunate announcements on the last sitting day? There are 170 planted questions on the Order Paper today. One of them is the announcement of the loss of 400 jobs in the defence industry, including 100 at West Freugh in Scotland, 150 at Aberporth in my constituency, and the closure of Llanbedr in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd). The arrangement of the business has been such that we do not have a motion for the Adjournment of the House today under which we could raise the announcements that the Government like to release on the last sitting day. Is it in order to describe that arrangement of the business and the way in which that announcement—which will affect 150 of my constituents—has been made today as a despicable act?
§ Madam Deputy SpeakerI am afraid that the hon. Gentleman will be disappointed with my reply, because I must tell him that the practice is entirely in order.
§ Mr. David Rendel (Newbury)On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Chancellor announced the outcome of the comprehensive spending review on Monday last week and I presumed that "comprehensive" meant that it covered the whole of Government spending. Following the statement, on Tuesday the Secretary of State for Education and Skills said next to nothing about 1020 spending on higher and further education. I tabled a written question for answer on Monday of this week asking how much spending was expected in the HE and FE sectors for the current year and next year according to the previous CSR, and for the next three years according to the new CSR. On Monday, the Secretary of State's answer was the standard one that she would reply as soon as possible. This afternoon, on our last sitting day, I received a further answer, which gives the figures according to the previous CSR, but says that figures for the present CSR will be announced later. Neither part of that answer can conceivably have been unknown to her when the answer was provided on Monday. Moreover, the actual figures that she says will be announced later must have been calculated long since. Is it acceptable for the Secretary of State to refuse to give out figures in response to a Member's written question simply because it would be embarrassing for her to do so at this stage and because she would rather hide them until a time of her choosing?
§ Madam Deputy SpeakerI am somewhat pleased to say that the content of answers from Ministers is not the responsibility of the Chair, but I note that the Secretary of State is in her place and has no doubt heard the hon. Gentleman's comments.