– in the House of Commons at 4:51 pm on 6 January 2014.
Gisela Stuart
Labour, Birmingham, Edgbaston
4:51,
6 January 2014
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. On 19 and
John Bercow
Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
No, I have not. It used ordinarily to be the case as a matter of course that there were statements on such matters, and generally speaking—if memory serves me correctly—that has continued to be so, with one or two exceptions. Those exceptions have sometimes been a cause of some concern to right hon. and hon. Members, and we no longer have the debate in advance of the European Council because the Government judge—which they are perfectly entitled to do—that that should come out of the allocation of time for the Backbench Business Committee. It seems a pity if there is no statement after a European Council meeting, but there are various means by which Members can try to pose questions on such matters orally, and get answers, and each case must be considered on its merits. The hon. Lady is an experienced campaigner and she can apply her own resources to the matter.
Toby Perkins
Shadow Minister (Business, Innovation and Skills)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. We all appreciate that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs may be tired after his endeavours in the past few weeks, but I know he would not want that to enable him inadvertently to mislead the House. He said that the figures I quoted in my question to him a few moments ago were wrong, but they were provided by a previous Minister in that Department, Richard Benyon, in answer to a parliamentary question on
John Bercow
Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
What I say to the hon. Gentleman is that—
Richard Benyon
Conservative, Newbury
He’s wrong.
John Bercow
Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, Speaker of the House of Commons, Speaker of the House of Commons, Chair, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, Chair, Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
No, it is not for me to say that the hon. Gentleman is wrong, but I am tempted to say it is a tad tendentious of him to raise that as a point of order. All Members are responsible for the accuracy or otherwise of the statements they make in the Chamber, and it is not for me to seek to assist the hon. Gentleman in his endeavours. I have, however, assisted him to the extent that I have enabled him to raise the point, and he has aired it to Members on the Treasury Bench. If any correction is required, doubtless it will be forthcoming; if not, the eager beaver that is the hon. Gentleman will, I am sure, pursue the matter further.
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