§ Sir Frederic Bennettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria of his administration in judging the desirability or otherwise of introducing legislation to permit referenda by the British electorate.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to a Question by the hon. Member for Tonbridge and Mailing (Mr. Stanley) when he said that this is a wholly exceptional procedure, justified in the special case of the previous Government's Northern Ireland (Border Poll) Act 1972 and our Northern Ireland Act 1974 and as one of two alternative means of fulfilling the Government's pledge to give the British people through the ballot box the final decision about Britain's position in relation to the European Economic Community.