As my hon. Friend the Member for Penis-tone (Mr. John Mendelson) said, this has been a historic debate. Before the debate began it was thought that the Government would be on the attack, with the Opposition on the defensive. But the rôles have been reversed. I believe that the case we have made out in this debate has been proved.

It is an interesting fact that although the Conservatives allowed not a single Amendment to be made to the Industrial Relations Bill in 1971, today in one speech after another they have spoken constantly about amendments. They do not go into detail as to what exactly those amendments should be, but nevertheless they talk about them. They are on the defensive in terms of the Act.

The speech by the noble Lord, Lord Hailsham, appeared in this morning's issue of The Times under the heading, "Rule of Law Threatened". I want to examine who is threatening the law. The National Industrial Relations Court, Lord Hailsham, and the President of NIRC have more to answer for than anybody on this side of the House or the trade union movement.

It is worth remembering what were some of the main arguments when this legislation was introduced. The guilty men are not present this evening to answer for their past misdemeanors. The right hon. Gentleman the present Home Secretary, who as Secretary of State for Employment took this legislation through the House, took as his main theme the fact that it was aimed at dealing with wildcat strikers. This was nothing to do with normal trade union relations, or with good trade union leaders or good employers, but was to deal with the wildcat strikers. There was, we were told, a certain section of the community which had to be controlled. Therefore, we had to have the Bill, with all its paraphernalia, imposed on the country—and imposed in the teeth of bitter opposition both inside and outside the House.

The legislation created a new type of court which for the first time in a generation divided the community. That is the sort of setting in which we are dealing with this Act. When Conservatives ask, "Are the trade unions opposed to the law" and "Do they want to be above the law?", the truth is that trade unions have always observed the law. They have gone to the courts and have operated under the British court system as it has always existed. Indeed, the trade unions have taken their internal differences to the courts. The only time I have appeared in a court related to the hearing of a trade union case when I gave evidence on behalf of a member of my union who was then in contest with the executive council of the union. We all accepted the judgment of that High Court.

But we are not dealing with that type of High Court matter in our motion. The legislation with which we are now dealing is not the normal sort of legislation that one would expect trade unions to encounter. This is legislation which enters directly into the sector of free collective bargaining, and this is something which the Government tried to impose upon the trade union movement. They have failed in that legislation and we have had phases 1, 2 and 3, again backed by the might of the law. That in itself does not resolve anything.

Has this Act done anything to improve industrial relations? What about the electricity workers and the railwaymen? In the case of the railwaymen, the Government thought it right to conduct a ballot, but they have decided that they do not want a ballot of the miners. Therefore, they bend the law to suit themselves. It is not an impartial law. It is a law that is manipulated and manoeuvred.

I should like to mention here the Transport and General Workers' Union and Heaton's Transport. Let us consider how the courts have been used. The Secretary of State told us how the courts are being used. One way is by small groups of men forming breakaway unions and trying to break the organised strength of the trades unions—not least the Union of Post Office Workers.

Much has been said today about the AUEW and Con-Mech. I think something should be said about that matter in more detail. Hon. Members know, because reference has been made to it, that Motion No. 49 on the Order Paper deals with a different aspect of that matter. We are not discussing that tonight, but that motion will remain on the Order Paper until we get justice.

In the AUEW /Con-Mech situation we are talking about a union facing a fine of £75,000 and sequestration of £100,000. What is it all about? It is about 31 men who want to join a trade union in 1973. It concerns a bad employer, backed by a previous Member of this House, now a noble Lord in Another place—apparently we did not teach him enough about industrial relations when he was here—and 31 people wanting to join a trade union. They banded together and formed a branch of that union. The management's action was to sack not only the shop stewards who were elected but the men themselves. When the AUEW tried to negotiate and meet the management it met all kinds of difficulties. The union wanted to resolve the matter. Indeed, Hugh Scanlon, both on television and in the Press, said that the Executive Council of the AUEW wanted to resolve the matter. But no, Con-Mech went to the National Industrial Relations Court.