Mrs Lucy Middleton: Further to that point of order. As I understood Mr. Speaker's Ruling, the point which I raised does not refer to any Order which has been decided by the House on any other occasion, and therefore it does not come within the Ruling which you gave.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Will my right hon. Friend give an indication of when he will be able to come to a decision about the matter?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: It is not my intention to follow the hon. Member for Clitheroe (Mr. Fort) in what he said about the more technical side of the electricity industry. I want, for the few moments during which I shall detain the House, to speak more upon what I would call the human relationships of the British Electricity Authority. Unhappily, for the most of the afternoon I have been detained with important...
Mrs Lucy Middleton: I send them on to the chairman of the consultative council, if I cannot deal with them myself.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: The fact that these things occur, that people come to their Members of Parliament and go to their local councillors, is proof, I think, that the consultative councils are not at present working in the way in which we hoped they would work when the Measure was before the House. I also find that a third thing happens, I have discovered this on occasions when I have been canvassing in my...
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Of course, that is far from the case, and on the several occasions on which I have referred to this matter in the House by Questions on the Order Paper I have not had very encouraging replies. I should like to know what has happened to the model which I was told was being prepared. Has that model revealed that this is a practical proposition, and if it is so considered when can we expect to...
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Mrs. Middleton (Plymouth, Sutton)rose——
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Is my right hon. Friend aware that a "star turn" at the recent Conservative Party Conference was a former Communist? What screening would be appropriate in that case?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty on what date he anticipates that naval personnel now due for pension, but whose services have been retained owing to the present emergency, will be released.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Will my hon. Friend see that the men concerned are themselves given as long notice as possible, because to my certain knowledge men among my own constituents have already lost civilian jobs for which they had contracted before the notice for their retention was made.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty how many men have been suspended in Devonport Dockyard because of Communist activities or associations; and over what periods such suspensions have been in operation.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Is my hon. Friend aware that quite alarmist reports have been circulating in the area regarding this matter, and that the reassuring reply he has given me will be received with great satisfaction throughout the area, and particularly in the dockyard?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Have they used it?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: The hon. Member for Hampstead (Mr. H. Brooke) said just now that he had no evidence of any Communist indoctrination in any of the schools under the London local authority. He also mentioned Communist cells within the staffs of schools. Has he any evidence to show that such cells have been established in any London schools?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Will the hon. Member give it?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: In view of the fact that hon. Members on both sides of the House have had considerable correspondence on the matter, could my right hon. Friend make copies of the statement he has just made, available in the Vote Office?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: What will the hon. Member say?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: It depends on the housewife.
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Is it the argument of the hon. Member that it is not the policy of Members on the other side of the House to keep down the cost of food?
Mrs Lucy Middleton: Does the hon. Member think the butcher saw him coming? Does he think the housewife—myself, for instance—would have accepted that?