LIGHT FOR TAPER
SIR,—My attention has been drawn to the references to myself contained in 'Westminster Commentary' dated August 9. The reliability of Taper's comments may be judged from his reference to my constituency as 'some fearful hole.' I did' not intervene twelve times nor at all in Mr. Silverman's long speech. I tried on two occasions to intervene to correct what appeared to me to be gross misstatements of law and fact. Mr. Silverman refused to give way. I did then make some audible comments on these misstatements.
Mr. Silverman endeavoured to maintain that Vickers, who kicked in the face an old woman of seventy-two whom he had already beaten uncon- scious, could not reasonably have foreseen that she would be killed!
Mr. Silverman deliberately refused to state her age or to describe the full nature of the assault and on this I prompted him several times.
Taper, who was too lazy to find out which was my constituency but impertinent enough to describe it as 'a fearful hole,' should, I suggest, look into his own bad-tempered mind for an explanation of the in- coherence of which he complained.—Yours faith- // Dyott Road, Moseley, Birmingham 13.
[Taper's comment was: 'Hansard lists seven in- terventions by Mr. Bell none of them entirely coherent, and I counted at least five more.' Mr. Bell denies that he intervened twelve times or at all. Hansard, like everybody else, does not distinguish between 'interventions' and `audible comments.'
The reliability of Mr. Bell's comments may be judged by the interventions recorded in Hansard—all of which occurred in Mr. Silverman's speech.
Mr. Philip Bell (Bolton, East): Why not say 'yes' or `no'?
Mr. P. Bell : I agree.
Mr. P. Bell : Well.
Mr. P. Bell : If the Hon. Member comes to Lanca- shire we will give him a kick that will be grievous bodily harm.
Mr. P. Bell rose.
Mr. P. Bell rose.
Mr. P. Bell : What age was she?
—Editor, Spectator.]
Previous page
