This practice of forbidding the use of direct citations from the debates of the House of Commons, euphemistically identified as "the other place," was originally intended to prevent, according to Erskine May, fruitless arguments between members of two distinct bodies who are unable to reply to each other and to guard against recrimination and offensive language in the absence of the other party.
According to Erskine May, the practice of forbidding the use of direct citations in the House of Commons continues to this day.