I have listened carefully to the hon. Member for South Angus (Mr. Bruce-Gardyne) giving us his reasons for objecting in the first place to this proposal and then proceeding to eliminate them all himself. He raised the question of the green belt but went on to say that he was satisfied that there are ample safeguards for the green belt, even if it is taken over. He said that we should await reform of local government, and went on to explain that that did not really matter either, because the objectors would object to any change in those proposals.

He said that he was raising his objection at the request of Angus County Council. I must say that I find this the most objectionable of all the objections. The draft order was laid by Dundee Corporation to the Scottish Office on 27th November, 1970. There were two objectors subsequently, one the county council, the other a Mr. David Shepherd. Because of those objectors the Secretary of State arranged an inquiry for 28th March, 1972, and then later changed it to 11th April, 1972. Mr. Shepherd withdrew his objection on 31st January, 1972. Angus County Council withdrew its objection on 17th February, 1972. There being no objectors left, the Secretary of State abandoned the idea of holding an inquiry, there being no longer any useful purpose in having a public inquiry. In view of the fact that the two objectors had withdrawn their objections the Secretary of State made an order on 11th July, 1972. The Bill was published on 12th July, 1972. Then, just before the House went into the Summer Recess, the hon. Member for South Angus decided to object. He tells us that he objects on the basis that he was requested to do so by Angus County Council.

Quite frankly, I find this whole series of events absolutely disgraceful. In the first place it is a disgraceful waste of public money. It costs a good deal of money to go through this process. The people who will have to pay this money, as far as I can see, are the ratepayers of the city of Dundee. It is the city corporation which has to bear the cost, but when the corporation bears the cost, it is the ratepayers who bear it. I think it is shocking that we have a situation like this, where the procedure is laid down, where people have the right to object, where they avail themselves of the right to object, and then withdraw their objections, and then, at the last minute, on the eve of the Summer Recess, the hon. Member makes objection at the request of an objector who has withdrawn objection. I find this a bit thick.

The Secretary of State may consider surcharging councillors because they do not comply with the provisions of the Housing Finance (Scotland) Act. It is about time that he considered surcharging either the hon. Member for South Angus or the Angus County Council for the public money they have caused to be wasted. It is a bit much meekly to say at this late stage that objection has been withdrawn. Naturally we are glad that the objections have been withdrawn because otherwise there would have been a further waste of public money. It would have been an even bigger scandal if, having intimated that they would withdraw the objection, they withdrew their withdrawal.

It is incredible that a county council and an hon. Member should allow public money to be wasted in this way. I could not allow this opportunity to pass without saying these few words. What has happened is shocking, and if ever there were justification for surcharging anybody, the Secretary of State should look into this case and consider whether the culprits should be surcharged.