Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 25 July 1974.
Surely the hon. Gentleman has demolished his own argument. He has told the House, correctly, that as soon as the Government realised that the acts to which he referred were wrong, they immediately ensured that they would not be repeated and compensation has been paid. He will acknowledge, surely, that there is a vast difference between that and the Labour Party in opposition openly encouraging the councillors of Clay Cross to defy an Act of Parliament, in the full knowledge that that would be an illegality.