Late minister accused of 'craven insult'

Schools minister Jim Knight has been reprimanded by the Speaker after arriving late for a Westminster Hall debate.

He was due to speak for the government in a debate on Learning and Skills Council funding for school sixth forms, organised by Mike Penning (Con, Hemel Hempstead).

But he was held up in the Department for Children, Schools and Families and missed part of the discussion.

The chairman at the debate, Mike Hancock (Lib Dem, Portsmouth South) described Knight's late arrival as "a craven insult to the House".

"I deplore the fact that the minister is not present, which is a discourtesy to the House and the chamber," Hancock stated.

"I hope that the usual channels will report that back. I hope that the minister will have a very good excuse when he arrives.

"He owes an apology to every honourable member who has taken the time and trouble to turn up."

The debate chairman added: "It is the first time in nearly 10 years that I have chaired proceedings and the minister has not been present. It is a craven insult to the House."

When the schools minister later arrived for the debate, he blamed the traffic situation around Westminster for his tardiness.

Knight told MPs: "I should have either walked or allowed more than seven minutes to get here from the department, but I am seeing the Mayor of London today, on the anniversary of his election, and I will pass on my comments about the traffic situation around Westminster."

And Knight told Hancock that he apologised for being "two minutes late".

But Penning later raised a point of order in the Commons chamber, stating that Knight had been 20 minutes late for the Westminster Hall debate.

He told the Speaker: "I wonder whether you are aware that no minister was present for the start of that debate, that there was no parliamentary private secretary either, and that the officials arrived 20 minutes late.

"Is there any way that this sort of insult to the house, with no minister present for the start of the debate, can be addressed in future?"

Speaker Michael Martin expressed his disappointment with the minister.

He told the House: "I am not very happy about the report that the honourable gentleman has made, and I must look into it.

"Ministers should always be courteous to the House and ensure that they turn up for debates. We all have to be good timekeepers in this House, and there is no reason why ministers should not be good timekeepers."