§ Lord Jenkins of PutneyMy Lords, I venture to raise the question of a Private Notice Question which the noble Viscount the Leader of the House has disallowed. The Companion to Standing Orders provides that if one wishes to do this, one must raise it in the manner which I am doing at the moment, and that in order to enable noble Lords to know what the issue is about, one must read the Question. I must make it clear that in reading the Question I am not asking it. I can only ask it if the noble Viscount changes his preliminary' opinion and permits me to do so, with the leave of your Lordships.
So that your Lordships may know what the issue is about, may I read the Question:
To ask Her Majesty's Government if they will contrast their decision to refuse entry to this country to Hungarian and Soviet trade unionists with the Prime Minister's decision to visit Budapest and Moscow and say which is indicative of their attitude to the two countries and how the decisions can he reconciled with each other".The reason I venture to question, with some trepidation, the decision of the noble Viscount is this: it seems to me that this issue is urgent in the sense that it should be raised and that it might be in the interests of the Government, as well as everybody else, that it should be clarified at this stage while the issue is in the public mind. The second reason I venture to put forward as to why your Lordships should agree to accept this Question and why the noble Viscount should change his mind, is because it seems to me that it is desirable that the issue should be determined, decided and made clear while the Prime Minister is in Moscow.For those two reasons I venture to ask the noble Viscount whether he will reconsider his preliminary decision.
§ The Lord President of the Council (Viscount Whitelaw)My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for putting this Question to my office and also for informing me that he might challenge the ruling which I have given. I thank the noble Lord also for what he has said, which I accept.
7 First, I must say to the noble Lord that it would not be for me, in making this decision, to say what is or is not in the best interests of the Government. My decision must rest upon what, as Leader of the House, is in the best interests of this House. I judged, in accordance with the Companion, that this Question did not fall within the urgency which the Companion and the custom of this House over a period of time have demanded from a Private Notice Question. I still hold to that particular belief. I should be sorry if the noble Lord were to press his Question, for the reason that the decision as to whether or not something is urgent is difficult to make. If one conceded too easily the asking of Private Notice Questions, one could very quickly disrupt the proceedings of the House in a way which I am sure the whole House would not wish to happen. It was for this reason that I decided that this Question was not of the urgency necessary. That is why I took the decision I did, which I hope the House will feel was not inspired by anything other than what I thought was best for the House.
§ Lord Jenkins of PutneyMy Lords, in view of the explanation which the noble Viscount has been kind enough to give and the evident support which he has from your Lordships. I beg leave to withdraw my request.