PARLIAMENTARY BROADCAST

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 138, 12 June 1936, Page 10

PARLIAMENTARY BROADCAST

f AKLIMIVItIM I MKT i (To Iho Editor.) Sir.—l have just, noticed in Wednesday's issue of your paper a request for enlightenment from a correspondent, "Let there be Light," on the procedure followed in selecting speakers for the Parliamentary broadcast debates. He infers that Mr. Atmore was chosen as the Independent member to speak on the State Advances Corporation Bill because Mr. Atmore was in favour of the measure. This is incorrect—it was merely Mr. Atmore's turn to speak. If a different order of rotation had been arranged the speaker might have been Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Wright, Mr. McDougall, or Mr. Sexton. It was mere chance that brought Mr. Atmore and the State Advances Corporation Bill together on the one night. In any case it is worth noting that Mr. Atmore gave only a qualified approval to the Bill—it is the habit of all Independent members to qualify their approval or disapproval. Your correspondent also complains that Mr. Nash spoke twice on the Committee stage of the Bill. Surely your correspondent, who apparently observes with a stopwatch, must know that in the Committee stage, when a Minister is continually being questioned on detail, he replies after three or four speeches. In fact, he sometimes speaks several times in answer to questions on one small clause. I am sure that had the debate not been broadcast Mr. Nash would have spoken oftener in accordance with the usual procedure.—l am, etc., ORMOND WILSON. House of Representatives, June 12. 193 G.