Clause 5
Compensation Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
David Hamilton (Midlothian, Labour)
I should declare first of all that I am a member of the NUM, and that I still pay my dues to the NUM Scotland area. The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson) was trying to make was that the NUM has many parts. Those parts have their own rule books and officials are elected to represent the people who pay their dues to the union. At the end of the day, the hon. Gentleman has not mentioned that the claims handlers are distinct from the unions. I do not count the Union of Democratic Miners in that, as it is not recognised as a union by the TUC and it runs a legal service, not an arm’s-length one.
There is another point. Unions are there to spend millions of pounds on defending their members and taking cases to court. The chronic bronchitis and emphysema case would never have been taken to court if it had not been for the unions spending millions of pounds. Claims handlers and lawyers do not do that; trade unions do. It is very distinct.