HL Deb 01 March 2004 vol 658 cc87-8WA
Baroness Miller of Hendon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 11 February (HL Deb, col. 1100) that it would be "quite improper" for him as a Minister to answer the question put to him by a Member of the House, whether they will publish in the Official Report the criteria which permit a Minister to define a question as "quite improper" and decline to answer it. [HL1383]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville

Lord Sainsbury of Turville refused to answer the question put to him on 11 February by the noble Baroness on the grounds that he disagreed profoundly with the assumption on which it was based. If he had answered it, it would have been foolish rather than improper.