– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 December 1957.
Mr Marcus Lipton
, Lambeth Brixton
12:00,
10 December 1957
asked the Attorney-General which counsel has been instructed to appear before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in connection with the Parliamentary Privileges Act, 1770.
Mr Reginald Manningham-Buller
, Northamptonshire South
No nominations have yet been made. I am at present somewhat engaged on other matters.
Mr Marcus Lipton
, Lambeth Brixton
I know, but must the decision in this matter stand over until the Attorney-General has finished cleaning up the City of London, which may take a long time? Will he consider the possibility that, pending a decision in this matter, writs may be piling up somewhere ready for service on Members in respect of what they may have been saying in the House during the past few years? May I beg of him to come to an early decision in the matter?
Mr Reginald Manningham-Buller
, Northamptonshire South
I do not suppose that it would take very long to come to a decision on nominating counsel. I cannot say anything about when the case is to come up for hearing by the Privy Council, because a lot depends on the arrangements of the Privy Council. It must also be borne in mind that, if this case is to be properly argued on both sides, whoever is nominated to appear for the other side will, and should, have ample opportunity for research and for formulating the arguments in support of their view.
The Privy Council goes back to the earliest days of the Monarchy, when it comprised those appointed by the King or Queen to advise on matters of state.
As the constitution developed into today's constitutional monarchy, under which The Sovereign acts on the advice of Ministers, so the Privy Council adapted. Its day to day business is transacted by those of his Majesty's's Ministers who are Privy Counsellors, that is all Cabinet Ministers and a number of junior Ministers. Membership of the Privy Council brings with it the right to be called "Right Honourable".
The Privy Council still meets regularly, on average once a month, but, as with the Cabinet, most of its business is transacted in discussion and correspondence between its Ministerial members and the Government Departments that advise them. The Privy Council Office (which is itself a Government Department) provides a secretariat for these discussions, as the Cabinet Office does in relation to the business of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees. Councils are held by The King and are attended by Ministers and the Clerk of the Council. At each meeting the Council will obtain His Majesty's formal approval to a number of Orders which have already been discussed and approved by Ministers, much as Acts of Parliament become law through the giving of the Royal Assent after having been debated in Parliament.
Meetings are reported in the Court Circular, along with the names of Ministers attending (usually four in number). The Orders made at each Council are in the public domain, and each bears the date and place of the Council at which it was made. There is therefore nothing at all "secret" about Privy Council meetings. The myth that the Privy Council is a secretive body springs from the wording of the Privy Counsellor's Oath , which, in its current form, dates back to Tudor times. It requires those taking it to "keep secret all matters...treated of in Council". The Oath (or solemn affirmation for those who cannot take an Oath) is still administered, and is still binding; but it is only in very special circumstances nowadays that matters will come to a Privy Counsellor on "Privy Council terms". These will mostly concern matters of the national interest where it is important for senior members of Opposition parties to have access to Government information.
