Chalkstripe,
he is being straight with you. The Parliamentary guide says:
Ministers and Whips do not normally sign EDMs. Under the Ministerial Code Parliamentary Private secretaries “must not associate themselves with particular groups advocating special
policies”, and they do not normally sign controversial
EDMs. Neither the Speaker nor Deputy Speakers will sign
EDMs. The internal Standing Orders of the Parliamentary
Labour Party require Labour Members to consult the Chief
Whip before tabling an EDM, and to delay the tabling of an
EDM for one sitting day at the Chief Whip’s request.
Since there appear to have been some queries about EDMs, for those seeking more info, can I suggest:
http://edm.ais.co.uk/
While the factsheet itself is at:
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/fs30.pdf