§ 2.58 p.m.
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, I should like to make a Statement on the business of the House for next week. The House was to have been occupied with the Committee stage of the Protection of Official Information Bill on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The Government have now decided that it would be right for the Bill not to proceed further in the present circumstances. The Committee stage will consequently be removed from the Order Paper. No new business will be tabled for Monday next. Tomorrow I shall move a Motion to advance the Second Reading of the European Communities (Greek Accession) Bill from Monday, 3rd December, to next Tuesday, 27th November. Other business will also be tabled for next Tuesday. The Second Reading of the Shipbuilding Bill will be postponed from Monday, 3rd December, to Tuesday, 4th December.
This means that, with the greatest regret, I must ask those with Starred Questions on Monday next and Monday, 3rd December, to withdraw their Questions for another day. I am particularly conscious of the fact that some noble Lords with Questions on Monday next have already been moved from Monday of this week. But I hope that they and the House will agree with me that it would not be appropriate for this House to sit on those Mondays only to take Starred Questions. By the same token, it would be undesirable to invent business purely to have extra sitting days when business is not particularly heavy for the rest of the week.
I should like to assure your Lordships that I do not relish having to ask the House to accept so many changes in the business. I hope noble Lords will recognise that the circumstances are, to say 122 the least, unusual and that the Government are responding to what they believe to be the feeling over the Protection of Official Information Bill both in the House and outside.
§ Lord ELWYN-JONESMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House—
§ Lord SOAMESNo, not learned.
§ Lord ELWYN-JONES—but learning very fast, if I may say so—for the Statement which he has made in relation to the Protection of Official Information Bill. There will, I think, be great satisfaction, and not only on this side of the House, that the Government have taken on board the general view that the Bill was misconceived—a view which was very strongly advanced on all sides both outside the House and in the House, in particular when we had the Second Reading debate. We congratulate the Government on their late conversion to wisdom and their decision not to proceed with the Bill.
§ Lord BYERSMy Lords, I should like to associate myself with what has been said by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Elwyn-Jones. I think that it is very wise to have come to this decision, but may I ask the Government about their ultimate intentions so far as this Bill is concerned and so far as the reform of this particular aspect of our life is concerned?
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, I hesitate to reply to the last part of the noble Lord's question. However, may I say to the noble Lord, Lord Byers, about his question concerning the intention of the Government in the far future, that time for further reflection is going to be taken by the Government. What the outcome of that reflection will be I should not like to forecast. However, further reflection will be given to the matter and I would ask the House not to press me today too far on that. Perhaps we shall have more news later for the House. May I say to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Elwyn-Jones, that of course there was a lively Second Reading of the Bill. We all know that. The Government were expecting a number of amendments. However, as I have said, certain unusual and 123 unforeseen circumstances have taken place between the Second Reading of the Bill and the proposed day for its Committee stage. These have led the Government to the conclusion that, rather than go forward and think in terms of what amendments should be made to the Bill, with an open mind, so as to make it better and more appropriate, the best thing for us to do would be to ask noble Lords to agree that the Government should withdraw it and give further reflection to the whole matter.
§ Lord BYERSMy Lords, without pressing the noble Lord the Leader of the House, may I ask him whether he would not consider at an appropriate time—not immediately—that this is a matter upon which we ought to try to get some form of consensus within the parties, and that in the process of reflection it might be a good idea to have both all-Party talks and non-Party talks?
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, I take note of the remarks and proposals made by the noble Lord, Lord Byers, without committing myself about them.
§ Lord BOOTHBYMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord the Leader of the House whether he knows that his Statement will have brought immense satisfaction and relief not only to the Press and the media but to the whole country, and that I can now withdraw the Starred Question which I have tabled for Answer on 11th December?
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, I rather regret that this has caused the noble Lord to withdraw his Starred Question, because I have no doubt that we should have had an agreeable, interesting and diverting debate. The reason for the withdrawal was not to give satisfaction to, for instance, the media. The reason for the withdrawal was that, following on (a) the Second Reading debate in this House and (b) the circumstances which have arisen since, the Government felt the matter needed further reflection. That was the reason underlying this decision.
§ Baroness LLEWELYN-DAVIES of HASTOEMy Lords, may I say that we on this side of the House very much appreciate that Her Majesty's Government 124 are going to take time for reflection both about the business of the House and also, we hope, about the content of their policies.
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, so far as this Bill is concerned the content of the policies goes without saying.
§ Lord BARNBYMy Lords, as one of those victims whose Questions on 3rd December have been shot down, may I ask the noble Lord the Leader of the House please to indicate whether, if noble Lords put down Questions for Written Answer, they will receive an Answer in a fairly short time?
§ Lord SOAMESMy Lords, I had not noticed that my noble friend Lord Barnby suffered very much from being shot down, but any Question that he wishes to leave upon the Order Paper will of course receive a Written Answer.