Employment

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 2 November 1973.

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Photo of Mr Robin Chichester-Clark Mr Robin Chichester-Clark , County Londonderry 12:00, 2 November 1973

I would rather not give way, unless my hon. Friend has a pressing point, because I have spoken for a long time.

That is not the picture of the court one gets from Labour Members and certain other critics outside, but it is the true picture. I wish that people would try honestly to find out what the court is doing, rather than approach it with a preconceived picture of what it is doing and shutting their eyes to anything that does not fit in with that picture. The court has shown itself to be eminently fair to unions, as unions that have appeared before it would be prepared to testify. It has demonstrated abundantly the value of an industrially sophisticated court.

These are facts which need stating. Some of the distortions about the work of the court are amazing, and it is time they were removed. None of us has ever claimed that the Act is perfect.