Petition – in the House of Commons at 11:54 pm on 3 March 1993.
Mr Patrick Nicholls
, Teignbridge
11:54,
3 March 1993
I have a petition containing more than 1,000 signatures, which is addressed,
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The petition has been prepared by Mrs. J. Salter of Hele vilage, Torquay. Mrs. Salter is confined to a wheelchair and she draws to the attention of the House the fact that it is now British Rail policy to remove staff from its railway stations from 6 o'clock in the evening.
You will be aware, Mr. Deputy Speaker, of the implications for disabled people, women travelling by themselves, the elderly and the young. The petition asks the House to urge the Secretary of State for Transport to make representations to British Rail to change that policy forthwith. The petition ends in the usual form:
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will for ever pray.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Deputy speaker is in charge of proceedings of the House of Commons in the absence of the Speaker.
The deputy speaker's formal title is Chairman of Ways and Means, one of whose functions is to preside over the House of Commons when it is in a Committee of the Whole House.
The deputy speaker also presides over the Budget.
