Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he is aware of the abhorrence with which the present form of steeplechasing is regarded; and if he will introduce legislation to facilitate the prosecution for cruelty to animals of promoters of this type of horseracing; (2) If he will appoint a committee to inquire into the risks of injury and death involved for horses in organized...
Mr Howard Johnson: Is the Home Secretary aware that I can give him the names of 60 horses which have been slaughtered in the Grand National? Is he also aware that his predecessor, the present Lord Chancellor, consulted the National Hunt Committee and was completely hoodwinked by it and misled into thinking that some very minor changes would stop the further massacre of horses? These changes have not done so. Is...
Mr Howard Johnson: Mr. Howard Johnson (Brighton, Kemptown) rose—
Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will promote legislation to make illegal the hunting of deer with hounds.
Mr Howard Johnson: Does not my hon. and learned Friend consider, having regard to the deep indignation felt by the vast majority of our people at this fiendish cruelty, that the Government should take responsibility for stopping what is a disgraceful practice in this country which prevents our calling ourselves a civilised nation?
Mr Howard Johnson: No, the general practice.
Mr Howard Johnson: Would the hon. Member not agree that over the last eight years Israel has had every right to distrust the United Nations and the Security Council, who have done very little to help her during that period? Egypt and Jordan have flagrantly violated the United Nations Charter and the Security Council. Does the hon. Member not therefore think that he can come all the way with us and support the...
Mr Howard Johnson: Would the hon. Gentleman tell the House how much blood he would have allowed to have been shed, how many lives he would have allowed to have been lost, in war between Egypt and Israel, and how much damage he would have allowed to have been done to the Suez Canal, before intervening by direct action to stop the bloodshed and damage?
Mr Howard Johnson: Does my right hon. and gallant Friend include the late Mrs. Ruth Ellis amongst that dangerous class of criminal?
Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the Truleigh Hill booster is giving very poor television reception in Brighton and district because the output has been so heavily reduced; and what action he intends to take to ensure that reception is again adequate.
Mr Howard Johnson: Is my hon. Friend aware that the best technical advice is that there never was the slightest need for this heavy cut in output, that it was done by the B.B.C. out of sheer spitefulness, that it was a breach of Clause 4 (1) of the B.B.C. licence? Will my hon. Friend consult the Law Officers of the Crown with a view to recommending revocation under Section 23 (2) of the B.B.C.'s Charter?
Mr Howard Johnson: My hon. Friend seems to have overlooked the fact that people in the Brighton area are existing licence fee-payers and are therefore entitled to a service which they are not getting from the B.B.C.
Mr Howard Johnson: The matter I want to raise concerns television reception in Brighton and district. I am sure, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, you will be as glad as other hon. Members to know that on television this evening it was seen that Spartak were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers by four goals to nil. The question of television reception in Brighton and district has come to be known as "The battle of Truleigh...
Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Secretary of State for War what progress is being made on the building of new accommodation in Brighton for the Royal Engineers Records Office; and when the War Department will be vacating the huts on the Level at Brighton.
Mr Howard Johnson: Can my right hon. Friend fix a date when either of these two events will occur? Is he aware that this continued requisitioning over about 12 years is depriving schoolchildren of Brighton, living in a very congested area, of a playing ground? Is he also aware, as an employer of labour, that these huts are totally unfit for the R.E. personnel to work in, and that these men need adequate and...
Mr Howard Johnson: Is the hon. Member aware that, if there is either ability or willingness on the part of the B.B.C., the Truleigh Hill booster could be retained to operate on a staggered frequency, on the same basis as on the Continent and in America, and will he pursue that aspect of the matter with his noble Friend?
Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Minister of Health (1) whether he is satisfied that adequate powers are possessed and adequate provision made by local authorities for homes for aged and infirm married couples; (2) whether he will send a circular to local authorities calling attention to the desirability of publicising the existence of homes for elderly married people where they are allowed to live together.
Mr Howard Johnson: Has my hon. Friend's attention been called to the tragedy of Mrs. Lily Dudgeon, who died on the beach at Brighton after sleeping out because she feared that if she went into a local authority residential home she would be separated from her husband, who was an old-age pensioner? Can my hon. Friend confirm that, in fact, the woman was offered accommodation by Brighton Corporation and that any...
Mr Howard Johnson: asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he proposes to take to stamp out the hooliganism practised by young persons who have in various parts of the country banded themselves into gangs known as Edwardian gangs and who by the reason of their brutality are becoming a menace to law-abiding citizens.
Mr Howard Johnson: Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that many magistrates who serve in juvenile courts are very deeply concerned at their lack of power to deal with these youths of 16 and 17? Will he consider introducing amending legislation to give additional powers to the magistrates and also consider amending the legislation relating to cases involving assault and battery, so that magistrates can...
