CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

POINT OF ORDER – ABSENT LIB-DEMS - 17 October 2007

POINT OF ORDER – ABSENT LIB-DEMS - 17 October 2007

Dr Julian Lewis: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, you will be aware that at 9.30 this morning there was a very important Westminster Hall debate on a subject close to the heart of the Labour left wing and the Liberal Democrat Party in particular, namely, arms exports. For the first time in such a debate that I can recall, there was no Front-Bench spokesman present from the Liberal Democrat Party and, needless to say, there was no Back Bencher either. Given that the Liberal Democrats persistently like to style their Front-Bench spokesmen as Shadow Secretaries of State, will you clarify once and for all that they are no such thing and that, therefore, if they wish to continue absenting themselves from debates, it will be welcomed by Government and Opposition alike?