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Proceeding contribution from Andrew Mackinlay (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 18 March 2010. It occurred during Debate on Intelligence and Security Committee.


Intelligence and Security Committee

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I ask both for your guidance and, I believe, for the protection of this House. If you look at today's Order Paper, you will see that we are being invited to consider the annual report of the Intelligence and Security Committee for 2008-09. Listening to the remarks of the Chairman of the Committee and given, from what I understand informally, what will be said by the three parties' Front Benchers, it seems that that report is being conflated with the report for 2009-10, which was available in the Vote Office only today. When I went to the Vote Office this morning and said, "Can I have the documents for today's debate?", I was, quite rightly, given only the report for 2008-09. It was only through listening to the Chairman of the Committee and having had informal discussions with colleagues that it dawned on me that he—and, it would seem, Front Benchers, although I do not rush to judgment on that—are in the business of conflating the two. That is not only alien to what is on the Order Paper but an affront to Parliament, because the document relating to 2009-10 has only just been published. Surely, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it is an outrage that this has happened, particularly against the backdrop of the views of people like myself. I think that this Committee—well, you will have got my drift because you have heard it year after year. Can you tell us what we are discussing today? I ask you jealously to safeguard the Order Paper and insist that our debate relates to what is on the Order Paper, with nothing relating to the 2009-10 report, which must be dealt with on a separate occasion by the House of Commons if it is to provide proper scrutiny.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
507 c1001 
Session
2009-10
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Intelligence and Security Committee
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Intelligence and Security Committee
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Intelligence and Security Committee
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Subjects
Accountability Administration Finance Intelligence services Intelligence and Security Committee National security Parliamentary scrutiny Location Terrorism Select committees Torture Rendition Diego Garcia Espionage
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk