Standing Orders

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 December 1957.

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Photo of Hon. John Maclay Hon. John Maclay , Renfrewshire West 12:00, 18 December 1957

If that is a general summary of the argument, I have not been far wrong.

The position is exactly the opposite of what it has been stated to be. The whole history of Parliament has been a history of evolution in the way in which it works. Many of the arguments deployed today about the right of every hon. Member to attend every meeting of a Committee must have been deployed years ago when the Committee system started. If the argument applies to Scottish Members in relation to the Scottish Committee it must have applied with equal intensity in its day to hon. Members from all over the United Kingdom. The attack that has been developed today in relation to the right of every hon. Member to attend every Committee on every occasion is an attack on the whole Committee system.