Member News
By Tony Grew - 5th May 2011
An MP is rumoured to have taken out a super-injunction, the Commons was told today.
Conservative MP Matthew Offord raised the matter during the business statement.
He called for a debate on super-injunctions and "the ability of judges, rather than elected parliamentarians, to decide policy".
Offord said "it has been rumoured a member of this place" has sought such a legal protection, which means the press cannot report the existence of an injunction.
Sir George Young, leader of the House, said the question of how to balance the rights of individuals with freedom of expression is "very important".
A Commons debate may be appropriate after the report from the master of the rolls on super-injunctions is delivered to the government, he said.
Also at the business statement, Duncan Hames (Lib Dem, Chippenham) called for a debate on the hours that the House sits, "so that members can determine the full cost, including necessary staff travel, when the House sits, as it did this week, past four o'clock in the morning, only to run out of steam early the following day".
And Greg Knight (Con, East Yorkshire) noted that the royal wedding prompted Westminster council to fill in pot holes in Parliament square.
He called for more royal weddings, perhaps in his constituency, "so that the rest of us can have an adequate road surface to drive on".
Sir George said Buckingham palace "will have taken note" of the question.
"I heard with interest his question about potholes a few moments ago in Transport questions. As a cyclist who cycles around Parliament square, I welcome his interest in my welfare."
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