Mr Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Both you and “Erskine May” have made it very clear that, by a resolution of this House, Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest. Nineteen days ago, this House completed debate on the Welfare Reform Bill, including a measure to place a cap on benefits. During the debate, on 17 May, the hon. Member for Cardiff Central (Jenny Willott) said that she had “heard” that Department for Communities and Local Government estimates forecast a rise in homelessness of 20,000 if the measure was introduced and that the policy would cost more than it saved. The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) replied by saying
“I have no clear evidence that further information is available”––[Official Report, Welfare Reform Public Bill Committee, 17 May 2011; c. 985.]
beyond the impact assessment.
Yesterday, we learned that the DCLG had, in fact, written to the Prime Minister’s office, ahead of a meeting of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to say that, yes, the DCLG’s assumptions were that homelessness would rise by 20,000 and the policy would cost more than it saved. It seems inconceivable that this cast list and the hon. Member for Cardiff Central all knew about this and the Department for Work and Pensions Ministers did not. In addition, the Secretary of State has signed an impact assessment which makes no mention of the DCLG’s concerns. He said that his picture was
“a fair and reasonable view of the expected costs, benefits and impact of the policy”,
even though it does not contain the warning that was issued to the heart of government. My question is, therefore, very simple: how do we in this House bring Ministers to account for who knew what and when, and why did they not disclose crucial, material information to this House?
Mr Speaker
Order. I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order and I will take other points of order in a moment. First, I would say to him that he has recourse to the Table Office and may want to avail himself of that opportunity to see how, through the Order Paper, he can pursue the matter. Secondly, he has raised, on the Floor of the House, an extremely important issue. He will appreciate that I have not had the opportunity to study in detail the force and potential significance of what he reveals, but I am happy to look into it further, reporting back to him and, if necessary, to the House. Thirdly, Ministers on the Treasury Bench will have heard what he has said, and the text of it will very soon be available to them, and it is for them to decide whether, on the back of his observations, they think it necessary to say something to the House sooner rather than later.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Last Monday, the Home Secretary answered an oral question from the hon. Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Mike Freer) by giving the view that she was able to consider whether or not to grant an exclusion order against an individual—in this case, Sheikh Raed Salah. He was subsequently arrested and is now being detained in prison. Only after great difficulty are his lawyers being allowed to visit him tomorrow morning, and no other visitors have been allowed. I realise that the House cannot debate the matter today and I understand that no legal process is before any court on this matter but, at the very least, do you not agree, Mr Speaker, that the Home Secretary should, out of courtesy, come to the House to explain what she has done and take questions on the subject? She seems to find great difficulty in communicating with MPs on this issue, despite the fact that the gentleman in question was invited to this House by a number of colleagues to address a meeting here last Wednesday evening.
Mr Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Whether the Home Secretary chooses to make a statement on the matter or not is a judgment for her, and it is not something in relation to which I have any formal power. As he will be aware, I, too, was conscious of the fixture of the individual in question. He was to address a meeting in the House, which was perfectly orderly so long as he was not a person of concern, and was freely at large and legitimately so. When that situation changed, the arrangement whereby he would address the meeting also changed. All I would say is that the hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. I know that he has sought communication with the Home Office and at least an explanation of the situation. That approach seems to me to be entirely reasonable, and I hope that his legitimate curiosity on this matter will not for long remain unsatisfied.
Mr Tom Watson (West Bromwich East) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the past few minutes, it has been revealed by The Guardian newspaper that Milly Dowler’s phone was hacked by private investigators working for the News of the World. The company subsequently revealed the information to the Surrey police, who were investigating the matter. As well as being a despicable and evil act that will shock parents up and down the land to the very core, it also strongly suggests that Parliament was misled in the press standards inquiry held by the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport in 2010. Is it possible to know how we can address that matter?
Mr Speaker
My response to the hon. Gentleman is threefold. First, the first I heard of this was when he courteously sidled up to the Chair to mention it to me fewer than five minutes ago. Secondly, my initial procedural advice to the hon. Gentleman is that he might wish to take the question up with the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which he judges to have been misled or misinformed in this matter. Thirdly, in view of the gravity of the issue he has raised, the detail of which I was not previously familiar with, I can say only that it will have been heard by Ministers on the Treasury Bench and if they judge in the circumstances that some sort of public response is desirable—as they might—I hope that that response will be made on the Floor of the House of Commons before it is made anywhere else. I hope that that is helpful.