The Privilege Controversy
Parliament is an august body, but it can sometimes be unduly touchy. The wrangle on a question of privilege in the House of Commons on Tuesday did no one any credit. Since the Speaker ruled that no prima facie question of privilege arose in the matter of a letter addressed to the Member for Sevenoaks by a local incumbent, and forwarded by him to the incumbent's bishop, it is permissible to observe thjt it is hard to see how a question of privilege could possibly arise. The Speaker's ruling has naturally not satisfied Mr. Sydney Silverman, whose speciality is dissatisfaction, and the motion he has put down, proposing that the question at issue be still referred to the Com- mittee of Privileges, will no doubt be debated in due course. The danger is that it will be debated on party lines, since the member whose conduct is impugned is a Conservative. A good deal will depend on the guidance given by the new Leader of the House, Mr. Chuter Ede. Fortunately Mr. Ede has a speciality too—good sense—and whatever line he takes on such a matter, 'he is likely to carry a majority of the House with him. On the main issue, it would seem quite impossible to deny the right of an M.P., any more than of an ordinary citizen, to do what he likes with a letter entrusted to him, provided it comes with no embargo. That does not alter the fact that it is desir- able for an M.P. to exercise much more than ordinary discretion in such cases. No doubt M.P.s in future will.
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