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Public Accounts

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not usually raise points of order, and this has nothing to do with the debate. It has struck me in the past 24 hours, particularly in the past two hours, that developments of remarkable significance are taking place in the Gaza strip and Israel, with Hamas claiming to be the majority party after the recent election. We have had statements from most countries concerned, including the United States. We know what Israel’s attitude is—it refuses to deal with Hamas until certain conditions are met. We know that large sums of money may be withdrawn from the Palestinians as a result of the election, and there are pending possibilities even of military action in the area. What we do not have is any sense of the Government’s position with regard to that remarkable election result. I have just heard that within the past hour the Prime Minister made some form of statement to the media, yet no member of the Government sees fit to come to the House. As we are not sitting tomorrow, have the Government indicated to you when they are likely to treat the House with courtesy and give us some indication of what their attitude is and what their responsibilities will be as a result of the election?