Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I rise to raise an important constituency matter on the back of a meeting that took place in my constituency last Friday between the Ministry of Defence, the defence contractor QinetiQ and local fishing interests. The meeting was held in the light of an announcement by the MOD of a consultation on the closing of fishing waters in the Minch.
I was assured in the House by the Minister for Defence Procurement, the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne) on 23 June that there would be a public consultation before the byelaws were published, but that has not happened. I have written today to the Secretary of State and asked him to intervene. With your guidance, Mr Speaker, I would like him to come to the House to make a statement about what has happened. In particular, I am asking for these events to be put on hold while an economic impact assessment is carried out and a project group is set up to look into these matters in the correct manner.
Mr Speaker
I did not hear to which Secretary of State the hon. Gentleman was referring.
Mr Speaker
I thank the hon. Gentleman. This is not a matter for the Chair, but he has made his point with his usual force and alacrity, and it will have been heard by representatives of the Government sitting on the Treasury Bench. They will choose how to respond. There is an arsenal of parliamentary devices to enable the hon. Gentleman to pursue this matter—if not thoroughly to his satisfaction, then at any rate sufficiently to ensure that he has aired his concerns at every turn.