Mr Alan Clark: That might be the case, and that is the great vulnerability of the argument. The hon. Member for Sunderland, South is by no means a sinister individual—he is most gifted, sensible and creative—but he has introduced the sinister concept of motive, which is entirely subjective. The hon. Member for Cheshire, wherever it is—[HON. MEMBERS: "Tatton."] The hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Bell)...
Mr Alan Clark: I think that the hon. Gentleman is a lawyer—
Mr Alan Clark: The House will note the vehemence of the hon. Gentleman's rejection of the profession to which I have been proud to attach myself since passing the Bar finals in the late 1950s. I do not think that there is much case law on predatory pricing and what cases there have been have proved exceedingly difficult. Quite honestly, I think that there is no such thing, and I reject the concept. I know...
Mr Alan Clark: All hon. Members have multi-faceted characters. One of our advantages, or so we are often told, is our ability to inform our comments in the House from our personal experience. If my hon. Friend chooses to interpret my behaviour in that way, far be it from me to correct him. I revert, finally, to Mr. Murdoch, and the extraordinary way in which the House—and practically everyone in...
Mr Alan Clark: Does the Minister agree that the one thing of which his Department is terrified is a prison riot, and that the Department will go to any lengths to avoid one? The surest way of causing a riot is to eliminate and ban drugs, and the easiest way to prevent one is to keep prisoners in an amiable—relatively speaking—and docile condition by allowing the free circulation of narcotics in prison....
Mr Alan Clark: I agree that it is ridiculous to levy royalties on seaweed, but to charge fish farmers, who often make a substantial profit, something for the right to land their produce on territory under different ownership is a perfectly legitimate commercial device.
Mr Alan Clark: I have listened to the hon. Lady's reasonable and careful explanation of linguistic differences and her statesmanlike approach to the problem, which she has placed in the setting of the present age. She may have constituents who have written to her on this subject, as do many hon. Members. The victims' families feel bitter about the issue, and it is a scar that will remain with them...
Mr Alan Clark: I declare a partial interest to the House, in that I am a trustee of the family trust settlements in Sutherland. I remind the House that we are not absentees. There are members of my family who are always there. As to my own credentials to speak on the topic within the Scottish nationalist ethic, every male forebear of mine has been born, and all—with the exception of my father—have been...
Mr Alan Clark: That is complete waffle. I asked a specific question: what does vesting ultimate ownership of the land in the people of Scotland mean? Ultimate ownership must be vested in a body of some sort, yet the hon. Lady replies with benign waffle about the people. That ownership must be vested in some administrative organ to which the responsibilities of ownership are devolved, but we are not told...
Mr Alan Clark: rose—
Mr Alan Clark: I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am glad that I have succeeded in drawing those statements from the hon. Lady. I warn the House not to rush into implementing penal or confiscatory measures based on false or generalised premises that, in many cases, are unfounded. Land ownership in Scotland is a sensitive issue, and it must be addressed case by case. I caution the Scottish National party...
Mr Alan Clark: It will be published just before the summer recess.
Mr Alan Clark: rose—
Mr Alan Clark: I apologise for trying to encapsulate the intervention made by my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth), and I do so with the greatest diffidence, because the expression that I am about to use is of monumental political incorrectness. However, I ask the indulgence of the House because I am quoting a remark made by the Lord Amery, the former right hon. Member for Brighton,...
Mr Alan Clark: No, they were not.
Mr Alan Clark: I extend my apologies for so uncouth an interruption to my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray), but I rely on the Minister to remind my hon. Friend when the C130 Hercules aircraft became operational.
Mr Alan Clark: I quite see that the Minister, conscious that many Labour Members will pay attention to what he says on the topic even if they are not in the Chamber, must include in his speech passages about the WE177 and the Government's good intention to phase out nuclear weapons. However, he cannot take the risk that any international treaty for phasing out nuclear weapons will ever really work. He could...
Mr Alan Clark: A short while ago, the Minister mentioned the integration of RAF personnel and naval personnel in combined operations in the Gulf. If he would throw a little light on that, it would be a great help to me and to some of my hon. Friends who might wish to catch your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Will the Minister elaborate a little on the command structure in that situation? Obviously, the relative...
Mr Alan Clark: I must warn the Prime Minister that this question is not answerable with the term "boom or bust" anywhere in the text. When will he extend the clemency that, at his instructions or with his consent, has been granted to murderers and terrorists in Northern Ireland, who have been released from long prison sentences, to British service men, who, believing themselves to be either defending their...
Mr Alan Clark: May I ask the Deputy Prime Minister to enlarge upon an answer that he gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth), as I think that his reply may have gone rather further than he intended? What right of appeal will there be to the Secretary of State against decisions of the mayor and, in particular, what rights will be vested in borough councils or other...
