§ 3.10 p.m.
§ LORD ARCHIBALDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask the Leader of the House whether he will invite the Procedure Committee to review the form in which the Minutes of Proceedings of this House are compiled, so as to provide a true and simple account of what actually happened in the House in the order in which it happened, with ancillary matters, such as Papers and certain items of Judicial and Private Business, relegated to appropriately marked sections at the end.]
477§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, the noble Lord is himself free, as is any other noble Lord, to ask for any matter to be considered by the Procedure Committee; but if he feels diffident about himself approaching the Chairman of Committees, I shall be happy to act as an intermediary.
§ LORD ARCHIBALDMy Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for his Answer. I can assure him that it is not diffidence that would keep me from approaching the Lord Chairman of Committees. May I ask the noble Lord whether he would" agree that it is some-what anomalous that our Minutes of, Proceedings do not mention the fact that there is such an item in our business as Starred Questions, whereas often there are in the Minutes of Proceedings thirty or more items of which no one who has sat through the proceedings of the House from beginning to end has even heard?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, it may well be that the noble Lord has a valid point here. The noble Lord is very experienced in looking at the Minutes, and he understands where to look. These "bookkeeping" entries have to be made somewhere. I would hesitate to suggest that we should start trying to arrange the Minutes in a way which might lead the Clerks into dangerous waters. I am sure that the Committee for Procedure would consider this matter, but I am not sure that it would be right in principle for me to advise on it. The Leader of the House occupies a very equivocal position. It is really for noble Lord themselves to pursue their aims, and now that I know that the noble Lord himself is prepared to approach the Chairman of Committees, I hope he will do so. I should warn him that the Committee for Procedure have a lot of work on hand at the moment, but no doubt they will consider this point. It is an interesting one.