Stephen Pound
Main Page: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Mr Speaker
Once again, I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. With reference to the specifics of the matter to which he has referred, if a Committee feels dissatisfied with the information that it has been given, it is open to that Committee to reopen an investigation or to request the reappearance of a previous witness, as a number of Committees have already decided. In so far as he focused in the second part of his remarks on the cause of strengthened Select Committees, with greater powers, I would say to him that if the House wants more powerful Select Committees, with a number of specific new powers that they do not currently possess, the House can will it. That is not specifically for the Chair—the Chair has spoken on these matters on many previous occasions, and I think the Chair’s views are well known on these issues—but for the House to decide.
Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Can you advise the House whether there is a mechanism for correcting the extremely unfortunate—and, I am sure, unintended—typographical error in paragraph 1, line 5 of the written statement circulated by the Secretary of State, which could cause considerable distress? What mechanism can be used to correct this?
Mr Speaker
The hon. Gentleman is a trusty servant of the House. He is also sometimes a mildly unkind Member in that he refers to a matter without giving me any notice. The truth is that I do not have the foggiest idea what he is chuntering about—but I will look into the matter. If he wants to return to it and it is a genuine point of order, I will try to respond to it.