Mr Terry Davis: I am always anxious to be fair to the hon. Gentleman.
Mr Terry Davis: I do not agree that those people were heads. Mr. Fallon is a very nice man, but he does not head any Centro department. Obviously the hon. Member for Yardley and I disagree on the definition of "head". Mr. Robert J. Tarr is a head because he is the director-general. The hon. Member for Yardley complained earlier about the length of my speeches, but his interventions and red herrings are...
Mr Terry Davis: Yes, but the hon. Gentleman is interrupting me again.
Mr Terry Davis: That is the point. I am sorry to belabour this issue, but the hon. Gentleman does not seem to have grasped it. The man at the very top—one cannot have more of a head than that——
Mr Terry Davis: I did not want to say that because it could be misconstrued. I do not want to engage in personal attacks on Councillor Bateman, who is not here to answer for himself. He is at the very top of the PTA. In my hearing, he made it clear that all the 11 meetings to which the hon. Member for Yardley has just referred were pointless. That is not the attitude of my hon. Friend the Member for West...
Mr Terry Davis: I do not want to follow my hon. Friend down that route, although I have much sympathy with what he says. I do not want to cast any unnecessary aspersions on the PTA and I suspect that you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, would rule me out of order if I began to discuss the general procedure for private Bills. I want to stick to this Bill. Some hon. Members have declared that they have been abroad at...
Mr Terry Davis: I accept your reproach, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am simply anxious to acquit hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Yardley, of any imputation of dishonesty. I suspect that the hon. Gentleman was simply careless. However, it was that hon. Gentleman who impugned my honesty in our previous debate when he said in an intervention, "If I were an honest man", meaning me. I think that he regrets...
Mr Terry Davis: I thought that when a Select Committee went abroad, the House paid for it.
Mr Terry Davis: But the hon. Gentleman said that it was paid for by this fund.
Mr Terry Davis: Yes, of course, by a House of Commons fund.
Mr Terry Davis: No, but that is not what we are discussing.
Mr Terry Davis: Actually, I did not suggest that there was a slush fund. The hon. Gentleman is very touchy about this. I was simply seeking to defend him. I ask my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan), "Was I or was I not defending the hon. Member for Yardley and the passenger transport authority?"
Mr Terry Davis: I do not know whether there was a slush fund. All that I know is that the invitation came from a firm with which I will not associate, which is called Ian Greer Associates Ltd.—a public relations firm which has a certain reputation. I shall say no more than that because it cannot defend itself here. I must advise the hon. Member for Yardley that I tried to be fair to him by suggesting that...
Mr Terry Davis: I refer to it only because there have been interventions, Mr. Deputy Speaker, including from the hon. Member for Yardley. I am anxious to get on because the hon. Gentleman also complained that I intended to speak at length. He quoted from The Birmingham Post, which asked me, "Are you going to speak at length, Mr. Davis?", to which I replied, "Yes, I shall speak at length and for as long as...
Mr Terry Davis: Yes, is the short answer. There are several alternatives, one of which has been suggested by my constituents. I think that it was rejected too cavalierly with an explanation that I do not accept, but I shall deal with that later. I should be grateful if my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Cryer) would stay to hear it. My constituents are not against public transport and I...
Mr Terry Davis: I was saving my remarks for my speech to move the amendment.
Mr Terry Davis: I want to put it on the record that I am not afraid to discuss these matters. It is at your request, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that I shall not answer the point. I am trying to be helpful, but I am having difficulty getting on with my speech, thanks to the hon. Member for Yardley. At the right time, I shall explain why there is nothing inconsistent in what I have said about not opposing the Metro...
Mr Terry Davis: Thank you for the guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was simply explaining that my constituents are upset. They oppose the Bill because they were not consulted by its proposers. I shall not go into the details of one route versus another as that is the subject of detailed amendments. My constituents were not consulted by the organisation that should have consulted them. Centro got off on the...
Mr Terry Davis: I appreciate your point, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I shall discard that part of my speech. My constituents say, "We accept not only the concept but the thinking behind it." My constituents are more impressed by the arguments that have been advanced by my hon. Friends than by those of the hon. Member for Yardley. After all, in the debates on the Bill the hon. Member for Yardley talked about the...
Mr Terry Davis: The trouble is that my amendment has not been selected for debate. I quite understand that and I would not challenge Mr. Speaker's selection. The Clerk has explained why the amendment, which is in line with what my constituents have asked for, cannot be debated. I shall not go into the merits of my amendments, which are different from what my constituents suggest. There is no identity between...