Mr Louis Tolley: I support the Bill because I realise that the local authorities have, at the present time, to enter into long-term planning. The right hon. Gentleman the Member for North Leeds (Mr. Peake) paid, I think, rather overdue concern to the fact that in March £150 million was suggested as the sum to meet requirements spread over 12 months. It must be obvious to all of us that in March of last year...
Mr Louis Tolley: I only want to say to the hon. Member for Tor- quay (Mr. C. Williams) that I think that he has made a case for my right hon. Friend, namely, that if the Opposition is getting stronger, this is all the more necessary.
Mr Louis Tolley: I welcome the opportunity of adding my support to this Measure, because I regard it as the agricultural workers' charter. I am reminded of the chaotic and bankrupt position of the farming industry between the two wars. Having heard hon. Members opposite chaffing hon. Members on this side of the House, and saying that we took no interest in agriculture, I would remind them that we have been...
Mr Louis Tolley: That may be so, but I would still remind hon. Members opposite of the chaotic and bankrupt position into which they brought agriculture. I was listening a few weeks ago to an eminent British fanner giving an address and his words are worthy of being remembered. He said now the war was over, he knew that British agriculture would never sink back into the position which it occupied just prior...
Mr Louis Tolley: In this respect, that he now has greater representation than he ever had before.
Mr Louis Tolley: He will have representation now, if only through his powerful organisation which has come into existence during the past few years. The National Union of Agricultural Workers has become a powerful organisation. In the past, it was not so effective because of the intolerable conditions under which the men were employed. Only a few years ago, many agricultural workers in remote areas were...
Mr Louis Tolley: I am sorry if I have digressed, but, having listened to the Debate, I must say I think all the points which I have mentioned have been dealt with by other speakers, and in particular the hon. and gallant Member for Argyll (Major McCallum). However, I welcome the Bill because it sets up machinery for dealing with those outstanding problems which have confronted the agricultural worker in the...
Mr Louis Tolley: I welcome the opportunity to intervene in this Debate and take the opportunity of congratulating the hon. Member for St. Albans (Mr. Dumpleton) for introducing this all-important matter. Again tonight I have heard that as a result of children attending the cinema, child delinquency is on the increase. As a result of the films, it is said, children adopt the tactics of the screen artist and so...
Mr Louis Tolley: I think so, because, after all, the various people who have been conducting children's organisations in the particular town or city would pay due regard to the nature of the children who come under their care, and certainly in the conduct of their business they would pay due regard to the fact that the children must derive some form of pleasure and amusement. It may be they would put on a...
Mr Louis Tolley: I am not disagreeing with my hon. Friend when he says that. But I am making my suggestion of what I want to see happen. I want a committee to be instituted in every town and city, to help, assist and direct in regard to the nature of the films to be shown, so that in the future, by careful selection of the right type of film, on a Saturday morning, the children will have that pleasure and...
Mr Louis Tolley: The hon. Gentleman has a very poor opinion of local authorities.
Mr Louis Tolley: I could give an example of a British Restaurant which, within its first year, made a profit of £600 and is now averaging £1,000 a year.
Mr Louis Tolley: Will my hon. Friend let us have the other part of the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton (Mr. Jones), in which he referred to the giving of a licence?
Mr Louis Tolley: Can my right hon Friend say how many of these units are still being maintained and how many it is intended to close in the immediate future?
Mr Louis Tolley: This is of very urgent national importance, and will not the Minister look into it and do something about it?
Mr Louis Tolley: Very briefly I want to say how much we on this side of the House welcome this Bill. The right hon. Gentleman said that, at a later stage, he would amplify some of the questions put to him. I want to ask him, in view of the keen interest taken in this matter, that, when he reports to the House from time to time, he will say something about the success or otherwise of what I will call this...
Mr Louis Tolley: Why emphasise it?
Mr Louis Tolley: asked the Secretary of State for Air if the large quantity of equipment at R.A.F. maintenance units, suitable for civilian use, will now be made available, in view of the shortage existing at the present time of those articles.
Mr Louis Tolley: Will the Minister give an assurance that he will have a complete inventory made of all the R.A.F. equipment to which I have referred, because if so he will find that a large number of articles could still be used for the purpose of rebuilding the country at the present time?
Mr Louis Tolley: asked the Secretary of State for Air how many R.A.F. maintenance units are at present being maintained; and how many it is intended to close down in the immediate future.