Mr Tam Dalyell: ...keep The Guardian quiet, and would stop it asking all sorts of questions about other matters. The Government would have something on The Guardian, and could exert pressure on it. "Blackmail" is an unparliamentary word, and I will not use it.
Mr Tam Dalyell: I do not want to get into any kind of trouble with the Chair. Of course I withdraw, but I must say that, having looked at Hansard, Mr. Speaker, you may care to reflect on whether what I have said is unparliamentary. The word I used was "clean". If the Leader of the House's memory is as good as he boasts, could he explain during the debate on the writ why the Opposition Chief Whip, as...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...designation would be resorted to when Ministers got into a tight corner—when it mattered; when the chips were down. There are Conservative Members, although they are not present today, who use unparliamentary language about Mr. Ponting. That is their scale of values, but on my scale of values, the most serious crime in public life is direct and calculated lying to the House of Commons...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...bizarre series of events.] [That this House calls for a debate on the conduct of honourable and right honourable Members of the House, considering the position of back bench members who resort to unparliamentary language and Heads of Government who misuse Law Officer's letters and then display lack of candour about what they have done.] [That this House notes that the Guardian of Friday...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ..., is superbly good at telling Prime Ministers what they need to know. On 2 February at column 852, I asked who brings the greater dishonour on Parliament—a Back Bench Member who resorts to unparliamentary language or a Head of Government who misuses a Law Officer's letter and then displays a shameless lack of candour about what she has done. The Prime Minister sidestepped the question,...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...bizarre series of events.] [That this House calls for a debate on the conduct of honourable and right honourable Members of the House, considering the position of back bench members who resort to unparliamentary language and Heads of Government who misuse Law Officer's letters and then display lack of conduct about what they have done.] Will the right hon. Gentleman support my letter to...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...bizarre series of events.] [That this House calls for a debate on the conduct of honourable and right honourable Members of the House, considering the position of back bench members who resort to unparliamentary language and Heads of Government who misuse Law Officer's letters and then display lack of candour about what they have done.] Would the Leader of the House expand on his answer...
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...of events.] and No. 627, [That this House calls for a debate on the conduct of honourable and right honourable Members of the House, considering the position of back bench Members who resort to unparliamentary language and Heads of Government who misuse Law Officer's letters and then display lack of candour about what they have done.] Could the right hon. Gentleman turn his mind to the...
Mr Tam Dalyell: Who brings the greater dishonour on Parliament? A Back-Bench Member who resorts to unparliamentary language, or a Head of Government who misuses a Law Officer's letter and then displays a shameless lack of candour about what she has done?
Mr Tam Dalyell: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. As one who has been had up for unparliamentary language, may I ask whether it is in order for an hon. Member to call another hon. Member a rat?
Mr Tam Dalyell: Can the right hon. Gentleman give me some guidance on parliamentary language? Does he recollect that he moved a resolution suspending me for five days for using an unparliamentary word? What is the safe and polite term that we should use for a lady who said one thing about the miners' dispute but, as has been revealed in the Daily Mirror, acted very differently? How should we describe that in...
Mr Tam Dalyell: Is "stolen" an unparliamentary word?
Mr Tam Dalyell: ...the latest biography of his leader by Bruce Arnold? What action do the Government intend to take, perhaps in a statement next week, about the comment on page 72 that "Margaret Thatcher told" an unparliamentary word? As Hamish Hamilton Ltd. has expert libel lawyers and is a reputable London publishing house, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman to agree that we should have a statement making...
Mr Tam Dalyell: Will the Minister give an undertaking that he will use unparliamentary language in relation to the Danes and tell them, in as picturesque terms as he can, that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark? The Danes lecture us on conservation and environmental issues year in and year out. On this matter I gather that they, more than the West Germans, are responsible for the EEC impasse....