Former MP for Brentford and Isleworth
I endorse what the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) has said. Such matters are deeply for the House of Commons, not just Front-Bench Members. It is right and proper that there should be brief interventions from Back-Bench Members in support of the measure. I certainly endorse the commendation of the House.
Following the remarks of the shadow Leader of the House, and now that the Labour party is in the process of resiling from and withdrawing the shameless and sleazy allegations that the Government intend to privatise the health service, will my right hon. Friend provide an opportunity for the Opposition to apologise to the country and to those vulnerable members of the community who have been...
It would not be appropriate for me to follow the right hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Foot) in his historical reminiscences, except to note that he made no response in substance to the interruption, towards the end of his remarks, by the Secretary of State. Labour's shadow Secretary of State set the tone of the debate in his characteristically knockabout, witty but rather superficial...
Does my right hon. and learned Friend appreciate the widespread local concern that his statement will lead to increased noise, nuisance and congestion round Heathrow? Although his categorical assurance, limited though it was, about night flights and alternation of runways will be welcomed, the time limit will be a source of grave local concern. Is he aware of the massive hostility to any...
The Secretary of State is about to explain what he thinks could be put in place of the proposals in the Bill. Many of us who have studied the subject carefully do not accept that just because the present situation is bad—we all accept that it is—we should necessarily adopt the proposals of the hon. Member for Greenwich (Mrs. Barnes). Many of us agree with my right hon. Friend's case,...
The Adjournment motion provides an opportunity for Back-Bench Members to raise matters of local, regional or national concern. The brief comments that I want to make about the growing problem of funding in the National Health Service apply at local, regional and national levels. I make these comments not in the context of the public expenditure round for 1991–92, upon which discussions are...
The hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) was less than generous in his welcome to a worthwhile and overdue reform. It is no secret that sometimes Ministers, as a result of collective responsibility, have to support and take action on matters with which they are not in 100 per cent. agreement. That was certainly true for me in the mid-1980s when I was a Treasury Minister...
I hope that my right hon. Friend will pay scant regard to the political posturing and the sour attitude of Opposition Members. He is to be warmly congratulated on having undertaken a proper consultation exercise, on having listened to what people said to him and on having taken account of their views. Those of my constituents—over 13,000 of them—who petitioned against the road tunnel from...
