§ 3.17 p.m.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, I bee leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are now able to say whether they will consider examining the law in order to eliminate any provisions which confer exceptional privileges upon Members of either House of Parliament]
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND MINISTER OF SCIENCE (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)Yes, my Lords. I would remind noble Lords that the privileges of Members of this House and of another place have deep roots in our constitutional history. In the words used by Erskine May:
The privileges of Parliament are rights which are 'absolutely necessary for the due execution of its powers'. They are enjoyed by individual Members, because the House cannot perform its functions without unimpeded use of the services of its Members; and by each House for the protection of its Members and the vindication of its own authority and dignity.That is Erskine May's description. Beyond question, the privilege of freedom from arrest on civil process was very necessary in the days when arrest 1303 was a normal method of compelling the appearance of a defendant before the court or of enforcing a money judgment. The House will remember the consequences of the money judgment in Bardell v. Pickwick. It may well be that the extent of this privilege is now wider than contemporary circumstances require. This, however, is a subject which needs very careful examination. If the noble Viscount who leads the Opposition so wishes, I should be pleased to discuss with him how such an examination might best be undertaken.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, may I thank the noble Viscount very much for that most satisfactory answer? May I ask him a minor question, as he is a fount of knowledge on this matter? A noble Lord came to me and he seemed rather concerned that we should be divested of some of our privileges. He warned me that if I was committed for a capital offence I should not be able to claim the right to be hanged by a silken cord; I should have to have a hempen rope. Is that correct?
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMI have heard, my Lords, that this right does exist for Members of your Lordships' House. It has not, I believe, been exercised for quite a considerable time. Also, I have always heard that the right has been disputed in the interests of democracy, and that your Lordships could not be absolutely certain of getting it again.
§ THE EARL OF SWINTONMy Lords, would not the more regular, constitutional and traditional method of considering this matter, which may well require further consideration, be by a Committee of Privileges of both Houses? Certainly we are concerned only with our own privileges, but, as the noble Viscount said, it may be that it is very important that both Houses should keep in line if possible. If the House of Commons took the same view after the Committee of Privileges in the House of Commons had considered it, it is not unknown that there should be set up a Joint Select Committee 1304 of both Houses; and possibly the Committee of Privileges of both Houses could sit together.
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMI would say, my Lords, that this is exactly the sort of question that I shall be, or should be if noble Lords opposite accepted my invitation, discussing with them. It would be merely a discussion as to which form it would take.
§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHWe certainly agree with that.