Mr George Rogers: It is not often that I take time in the Chamber from other hon. Members. I am usually upstairs trying to stop other hon. Members from speaking in Standing Committee. On the occasions when I speak in the Chamber I seem to talk about houses and, inevitably, about the housing in my constituency, which is a stain and a blot upon the country's record. No matter how many times the question is...
Mr George Rogers: I expect the hon. Gentleman to rise to the defence of the council in South Kensington, but by the time I have completed my argument he, too, will realise that his party is responsible.
Mr George Rogers: I am not at the moment concerned with any other part of Britain than my own constituency. I am concerned with Notting Hill, the area which is specially dealt with in the recent report, and with no other part of the country. The first speech that I made as a young propagandist was in Notting Hill about its housing conditions. That was over 40 years ago. As I am nearing my swansong in the...
Mr George Rogers: Order. Interventions must be brief.
Mr George Rogers: I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman can defend himself.
Mr George Rogers: The Convention marks a welcome step forward in Anglo-Polish relations. It regulates the procedure to be followed when consulates are opened, the privileges and immunities of consular officers, and their functions in protecting the interests of their nationals. As a whole it is very satisfactory from our point of view.
Mr George Rogers: In his statement the right hon. Gentleman said that no increases should be granted because of the passing of time. Can he say what plans the Government have for dealing with the decrease in purchasing power of the £ as a result of the inflationary tendency in the economy, which grievously affects lower-paid workers?
Mr George Rogers: The House will be glad to know that I propose to keep my remarks very short, primarily because the Front Benches took a disproportionate amount of the time available. It is time that we stopped having eight Front Bench speeches in a two-day debate so that on the second day back benchers do not begin to speak until 6 p.m. When one considers that there are hundreds of us and only a handful on...
Mr George Rogers: TO ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Mr. Justice Brabin's Report on the Timothy Evans case.
Mr George Rogers: Is my right hon. Friend aware that his decision will be greeted with great satisfaction by the entire country, and especially by those of us who have long held that Evans was not guilty of the charge on which he was tried? Is he also aware that he earns the country's thanks for showing that British justice is big enough to admit that it can make a mistake, which is, perhaps, as important as...
Mr George Rogers: Order. That is not a point of order.
Mr George Rogers: No, we are still on the Amendment.
Mr George Rogers: It would not be in order to spread the debate any wider than it has already gone. There are other Amendments to be discussed. I am also listening very carefully to the right hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale (Mr. Barber).
Mr George Rogers: I think that it would be better if these points were dealt with on the Question, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill".
Mr George Rogers: It does not seem to me to be out of order so far.
Mr George Rogers: That would be quite in order.
Mr George Rogers: I suggest that it might be to the advantage of the Committee to discuss at the same time the following further three Amendments: Amendment No. 251, in page 37, line 2, to leave out "October, 1966" and to insert: January 1967 in the case of farmhouses, farm workers' cottages, and agricultural machinery which is used seasonally, and not later than 18th October 1966 in the case of all other...
Mr George Rogers: Does the hon. Lady wish to withdraw her Amendment?
Mr George Rogers: I suggest that it would be for the convenience of the Committee to take, with this Amendment, the following Amendments:
Mr George Rogers: I have no objection to that course if the Committee has none.