Orders of the Day — Dispossessed Tenant Farmers (Compensation)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 March 1966.

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Photo of Mr Robert Maxwell Mr Robert Maxwell , Buckingham 12:00, 9 March 1966

I am sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I trust that my right hon. Friend will honour his pledge. I know that my right hon. Friend and this Administration are wholly in sympathy with my plea and agree that something must be done to right this injustice. I believe that the reason it has not yet been done is the need for the Ministry of Agriculture to consult the National Farmers' Union and the Country Landowners' Association, but these consultations have been going on for far too long and the injustice continues.

I hope that my hon. Friend will at least be good enough to say two things this morning—that he is completely in sympathy with my plea and that he hopes that something will be done about this matter speedily; and, secondly, who is the nigger in the woodpile. Is it the N.F.U. or the C.L.A. which is preventing this necessary legislation from being put on the Statute Book? By telling the country which of these two organisations is dragging its feet, at least my hon. Friend will tell the tenant farmers, who are suffering and who have been dispossessed, on whom they should put the blame.