John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)
Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will remember that on 9 January the House unanimously passed a motion in favour of supporting the Government to regulate the pub companies industry. Consultees were expecting an announcement from the Government on 5 April, but that did not happen. On 7 April, The Mail on Sunday carried a piece saying that the Chancellor had overridden the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and that that Government policy would no longer be followed. I have written to the Secretary of State to ask whether the Government have changed their policy, but I have had no reply. I wonder whether you might be able to advise me on how to ensure that the House is kept informed. If the Government’s policy has been changed, it seems most unsatisfactory that the readers of The Mail on Sunday should be better informed than Members of Parliament.
Mr Speaker
I note the hon. Gentleman’s point of order. In respect of his latter point, I simply make the observation at the outset that it does not necessarily follow that the readers of the organ in question are, as he puts it, better informed. That said, Ministers will of course be conscious of their responsibilities to the House. It is not a matter for the Chair, but the hon. Gentleman has placed on the record his real concern and it will have been heard on the Treasury Bench. He is a doughty campaigner and I feel sure that he will return to the theme if he remains less than satisfied.