House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 May 1999 (pt 5)

Sir George Young: The House is grateful to the Leader of the House for announcing next week's business and for indicating the provisional business for the following week, and her qualified reassurance about the Whitsun recess.

I welcome the right hon. Lady's response to my request for regular statements and debates on Kosovo and the finding of time for a debate on Tuesday. However, what has happened to the planned debates on defence in the world and on personnel matters in the armed forces?

When the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport answers questions on Monday will he clarify the confusion as to what he said to Mr. Greg Dyke about the job of Director-General of the BBC? Has the right hon. Lady seen Mr. Dyke's letter in The Independent today, which states that the Minister's written parliamentary answer on Monday was "slightly misleading"? Mr. Dyke goes on to assert:

"Mr. Smith asked me whether I was likely to be a candidate."

Is the House not entitled to a fuller explanation of what has been going on?

Further to my question last week, will the right hon. Lady tell the House what arrangements she proposes for debates on public expenditure and the economy? The House is entitled to an answer and we have been pressing for a reply for some time.

Last Thursday, when I asked about the inquiry into the leak of Macpherson report, which occurred more than two and a half months ago, with a limited number of suspects, the right hon. Lady said:

"I remind the right hon. Gentleman that it is not an inquiry into anything that the Government have done".

Will she therefore confirm that Home Office Ministers have been exonerated from leaking the document and will she ask the Home Secretary to report the full outcome of the inquiry before the Whitsun recess?

Last week, I also asked about the freedom of information Bill and the right hon. Lady replied:

"I . . . hope to be able to report soon on the freedom of information Bill."--[Official Report, 6 May 1999; Vol. 330,c. 1090.]

Will the House get a statement from the Home Secretary on Thursday?

Finally, will the right hon. Lady assure the House that if there are any important changes in Government policy next week, the appropriate Minister will make a statement to the House? Before the last election, the present Foreign Secretary said of Labour's policy on the Tote,

"I can authoritatively bring down the curtain on this story. There will be no proposal to sell the Tote."

Was it not a discourtesy to the House to slip out a total reversal of policy on an important national institution by way of a written question?

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Mrs. Beckett: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for welcoming the debate on Kosovo. I can assure him that we have not lost sight of the undertaking to find time for debates on defence in the world, or indeed on personnel, but he will appreciate that we are trying to balance the need for those debates, which we fully recognise, with keeping the House up to date on events in Kosovo.

The right hon. Gentleman asked me about what he described as "confusion" over Mr. Greg Dyke's application to be Director-General of the BBC. I have seen his letter and I see no confusion in it. To ask what has been going on suggests that the right hon. Gentleman supports conspiracy theories, of which I had not suspected him. As he said, he will have the opportunity to ask my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport about those matters should he wish to do so.

I am continuing to pursue the issue of debates on public expenditure. The right hon. Gentleman has certainly been pressing for that matter to be resolved for some little time. I sympathise. I recall having precisely the same experience when the previous Government changed their policy and withdrew the arrangements for debating public expenditure. To the best of my recollection, during all the time that I remained shadow Chief Secretary and untilthe subsequent election, we were never able to persuade the then Government to resolve the matter, so I have some sympathy with the right hon. Gentleman and can assure him that I will report to the House as soon as I can.

The right hon. Gentleman asked me to confirm whether there would be a statement next week on the freedom of information Bill. Obviously, such matters are subject to progress, but I certainly hope that that will be possible in the very near future and that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will make a full statement.

I reject the charge of discourtesy. The right hon. Gentleman quoted some observations that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made before the election. The Home Secretary, or whoever is responsible, has made the position on the Tote clear. While I sympathise with the request for a statement on absolutely every matter that comes along, the Government must balance when we make statements and when we find time for debates. We will continue to do so to the best of our ability.

Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich): Would my right hon. Friend like to assure me, particularly in the light of the motion on the Order Paper on the size of the quorum for Select Committees, that Her Majesty's Government not only support the work of those Committees but consider them to be of considerable importance? Since more and more members of Select Committees are being taken away from their sittings to sit on Committees considering Bills, when other hon. Members could readily take their place, will both usual offices please seriously consider whether they want that Committee system to work? If they do, some very hard thinking must take place about the organisation of the House of Commons.

Mrs. Beckett: I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that the Government place great importance on the work of Select Committees. From her question, I am not sure whether she is aware that the motion has been tabled in response to a request that went to the Chair of the Liaison

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Committee for endorsement from the Chair of a Select Committee that is pursuing a joint investigation because it believes that to be the most sensible course.

Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst): Outrageous.

Mrs. Beckett: It is matter for the right hon. Gentleman whether he thinks that that is outrageous. The Chairs of a number of Select Committees have officially made that request because they believe that it is the right way to tackle the business before them. The right hon. Gentleman proposes to second-guess their decision. I do not feel inclined to do so because that would not show respect for their judgment.

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