(South Dorset) (Con)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. At the start of Prime
Minister’s questions, the Speaker reminded the House about the
use of language. The debate on Gaza is getting far more emotive,
and the language used has been questionable in one or two cases,
as I am sure you are aware, Madam Deputy Speaker. One of the SNP
Members asked a question about Gaza and, after the question was
answered, a member of the SNP—I cannot identify them—accused the
Prime Minister of being Pontius Pilate, which we on these Benches
heard very clearly. That kind of language is extremely unpleasant
because, as you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, Pontius Pilate washed
his hands and handed Jesus over to a murderous death. That is not
what the Prime Minister is doing. He has an impeccable record on
this topic, and is leading with great courage and conviction in a
war in Gaza that is, indeed, highly emotive.
(Midlothian) (SNP)
Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Just for
the record, I seek your guidance on how to make it very clear
that it was not a member of the SNP who said any such thing—I can
be absolutely certain about that. I think Members might want to
be very clear about which parties are saying things before making
such accusations. How can I put that on the record, Madam Deputy
Speaker?
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I thank the hon. Gentleman. I will come to the other points of
order in a moment. I appreciate the point of order made by the
hon. Member for South Dorset (). I can say only this: Mr
Speaker strives throughout Prime Minister’s questions to keep
order in this House, but it has become fashionable to make
unnecessary noise during the half hour when the Prime Minister
and the Leader of the Opposition are on the Front Benches.
Generally, this House is well behaved, as it is at the moment,
and takes its duties, responsibilities and public image
seriously.
It is very sad if somebody did make the comment that the hon.
Member for South Dorset has described. I take the point made by
the hon. Member for Midlothian () that if a remark was made
about Pontius Pilate, it was not made by an SNP Member, but
actually, as far as the Chair is concerned, I do not care who
made such a remark. It is wrong to try to whip up bad feeling in
this House or anywhere else about the tragedy unfolding
in Israel and Palestine. I
urge all hon. Members, who have different points of view on this
emotive subject, to be very careful about what they say in public
and in private, but especially in this Chamber.
Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would
like to think I am an honourable Gentleman, and if indeed I got
it wrong, I withdraw the point that the comment was made by an
SNP Member. It came from that part of the House, but if it was
not an SNP Member, I withdraw that point.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for withdrawing that
accusation, because it lets us at least take that part out of
this specific issue. It may be that somebody made that comment,
but I really do not care what they said or how they said it. They
should not be saying anything at all while seated when someone
else is asking a question or the Prime Minister is answering it.
Everyone in this House ought to bear in mind that what is said
and done in here has a much wider audience, and we ought to be
setting an example of being reasonable and careful in the way
that we use words and phrases, and never being inflammatory.
(Brent Central) (Lab)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. My point of order also
relates to Israel and Gaza. ITV
News recently broadcast a video showing the killing of an unarmed
civilian in Gaza who was waving a white flag—the international
symbol of peace. It is not the first time unarmed people have
been killed in Gaza while raising white flags; in fact, three
Israeli hostages were brutally killed while topless and waving a
white flag. This is deeply concerning to me, as I am sure it is
to many people in this House. An Israel Defence
Forces commander has indicated that the IDF was responsible,
saying,
“There are mistakes, it is war.”
This incident could potentially constitute a war crime. How can
we ensure that the Government come to this House to assure us
that this incident will be properly investigated and that
UK-supplied weapons were not used, and to set out the steps being
taken to ensure that Israel follows the
ruling from the International Court of Justice?
Madam Deputy Speaker
I have listened carefully to the hon. Lady, and the point she
makes is not a point of order for the Chair—not at all. She is
making a very serious point about a tragic incident among many
thousands of tragic incidents that have occurred over the past
few months, but it is not a point of order for the Chair.
The hon. Lady is raising a point that she wants to raise with
Ministers. The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office, the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield
(Mr Mitchell), was recently at the Dispatch Box making a
statement on Gaza, and I anticipate it is very likely that a
Foreign Office Minister or a Minister from the Ministry of
Defence will be here again within a few days to make a further
statement. If not, Opposition Front Benchers and others have been
most assiduous in asking urgent questions to ensure that
Ministers come to the House to answer these important
questions.
The hon. Lady is not asking a question that I can deal with from
the Chair; she is asking a question that she wants to ask of a
Minister. If she wants to ask a question of a Minister, there are
various ways she can do that: she can put down an urgent
question; she can ask for an Adjournment debate; she can speak to
Members on her own Front Bench about having an extended debate in
Opposition time—I will not list them all. There are many, many
ways in which the hon. Lady can do that, but I cannot answer her
question from the Chair. It is not a point of order.
