M.P.s ‘Half Drunk’, Report Asserted

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 14

M.P.s ‘Half Drunk’, Report Asserted

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, February 16.

The House of Commons was in a hilarious mood last night as members heard allegations that some of them were half drunk during a recent debate.

Members on both sides hooted and slapped their thighs as the clerk solemnly read out passages from a newspaper.

According to these, a Labour member, Mr Patrick Duffy, alleged at a Labour Party social on Friday that some Conservatives were half drunk and that it was disgusting to look at them. A Conservative, Sir Herbert Butcher, asked the Speaker if the allegations were a breach of parliamentary privilege which protects the dignity of Parliament

If correctly reported they were a grave reflection on the conduct of members.

The Speaker said he would give a ruling later. A breach of parliamentary privilege can be a serious offence, with penalties ranging from a humble apology to imprisonment. Nobody has been sent to prison in modern times. Mr Durry, aged 44, a former University lecturer, said he wanted the whole question brought out into the open. He asserted that some Conservatives were turning Parliament into a beer garden. His remark was made as “a light-hearted aside” during a private meeting, but he was not withdrawing it or backsliding.