---

Speaker's Statement

Mr. Speaker, you were right to acknowledge that there is a serious issue at stake here, which is why I would like to ask whether you are in a position to be more specific about the remit and the powers of the Committee that you have proposed. Surely it will be right for that Committee to keep account of the fact that none of us is above the law, but that that principle applies to the police as much as to any of us. What you have said about the absence of a warrant raises a number of very significant questions for the Committee, and I am pleased to hear you say that you intend to produce, by your own hand, a suitable protocol. However, the law includes not just the criminal law but the rights, duties and privileges of all Members of this House, as evidenced by the constitution under which we serve. Will you give the House an assurance, so far as you can, that the membership of that Committee will be such that it will be entitled to have access to information from every source—Government, Opposition if necessary, police, and indeed Officers of the House of Commons?