RULES OF DEBATE (Compliance with Standing Orders) Announcement by Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker: Before we come to the next item on the Order Paper, may I say something? I am very perturbed that the perplexity of our Standing Orders has led to some misunderstanding among some of the new, and even not-so-new Members, some of whom are not here. This misunderstanding seems to be hinged on the point of order, or point of clarification or elucidation. Standing Order 48 states:

'No Member shall interrupt another Member except-

(a) by rising to a point of order, when the Member speaking shall resume his seat and the Member interrupting shall simply direct attention to the point which he desires to bring to notice and submit it to the Speaker or Chairman for decision; or

(b) to elucidate some matter raised by that Member in the course of his speech, provided that the Member speaking is willing to give way and resumes his seat and that the Member wishing to interrupt is called by the Speaker or Chairman.'

Thus, there is no excuse for a Member to launch on a speech even before the Chair has given any decision. I shall, therefore, in the future stick to this particular Standing Order very strictly.