THE Speaker of the House of Commons, Mrs Betty Boothroyd, has announced that she will allow an emergency debate today on allegations that the Paymaster General, Mr David Willetts, "brought improper pressure to bear on the Select Committee on Members' Interests in 1994" when it was investigating the "cash for questions" affair.
In a brief statement to MPs on the last day of the present session of, parliament, Mrs Boothroyd said she had agreed to a written request by the Labour MP, Mr Andrew Miller, in which he suggested there was a prima facie case to answer on the issue and that it should be referred to the Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges. The committee had earlier agreed to an emergency investigation.
Last night, Mr Willetts issued a statement saying he was "pleased". "I will help the committee in any way I can," he said.
As the Commissioner for Standards and Privileges, Sir Gordon Downey, continues his inquiry into "cash for questions", the Prime Minister, Mr Major, said yesterday there was no one more concerned than he was that the allegations should be thoroughly investigated by the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Mr Paddy Ashdown, asked Mr Major in the Commons if he thought it was right for the government to "seek to interfere in or manipulate the outcome of a select committee of parliament?" to which Mr Major replied that "allegations ought not to be bandied across the house. If you have a complaint you should put it to the appropriate committee and you will see that there is no one in this house more concerned than I am that it should be properly examined".
The speaker's statement came after it was announced by the cross-party standards and privileges committee that it would be pushing for a public hearing into the "cash for questions" affair. A statement from the Labour MP, Mr Tony Newton, who is the chairman of the committee, suggested that should Sir Gordon Downey's report lead them to conclude that it was necessary to hear evidence from MPs "the presumption would be that such hearings would be in public".
It could pave the way for the Tory MP, Mr Neil Hamilton to be grilled on the charge that he tabled questions on behalf of the owner of Harrods, Mr Mohammed Al-Fayed.