Mr Jeffrey Archer: My hon. Friend and I seem to be discussing this matter every day, although not necessarily in the Chamber. My point was that these were not queues for special exhibitions. This was a Sunday queue. The Tate Gallery opens at 2 p.m. and my point was that there was a long queue there at 2 p.m. and that in that queue at the moment would be a vast number of young people. I feared that with the...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: I rise to make the general complaint that when the Opposition were in power they stopped the train going to Louth, and now I have no train.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Is the right hon. Gentleman saying that if his wife was wealthy and could afford several Rolls-Royces, his Ministerial car should be taken from him when he went to open a hospital?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will establish an inquiry into the problem of violence in schools.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Does my right hon. Friend realise that that is not a satisfactory reply? Is she aware that many teachers and parents are genuinely worried, not just for now but about what is likely to happen in the future, as a result of the present trend? Cannot something more positive be done rather than simply expressing hope for the future?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Will not that cause a great problem in the middle of next year, when we bring down the unemployment rate and the Queen gets only £1 per person?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: When the Minister has this review, will he be kind enough to consider retrospective payment of a grant? Many people receive a large bill, cannot pay it out of their accounts and need the money very quickly. Would the Minister consider trying in this matter so that the money can be paid quickly?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications whether, in view of dissatisfaction felt by retirement pensioners with the present regulations governing concessions to such pensioners in respect of broadcast receiving licences, he will seek to extend the concessions.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I have Question No. 16 on the Paper today. I was told at 2.35 this afternoon that it would be coupled with Question No. 1. By that time it had been passed by.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: I was taking a constituent to the Gallery. I wonder, Mr. Speaker, whether it is possible to ask Question No. 16 now?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. There is a queue of people waiting to hear this debate. It is called "The Great Debate". The first person in that queue this morning has been there for 12½ hours and is still not in the debate. I suspect, as the debate continues, that they will be invited in at 10.30 p.m. after the Division. I consider this to be disgraceful. I hope that the first few...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. There is a queue of 300 to 400 people waiting to get into the Public Gallery. A person who was in the queue first at 6.30 a.m. is still there now.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Steady as she goes.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Does my right hon. Friend realise that there are many of us on this side of the House who are full of admiration for the courageous stand made by the right hon. Members for Fulham (Mr. Michael Stewart) and Dundee, East (Mr. George Thomson) and that some of us look to the Leader of the Opposition to make the same courageous stand and put the country before his party?
Mr Jeffrey Archer: First, I apologise to the right hon. Member for East Ham, North (Mr. Prentice) for being a few minutes late. I was elsewhere on the other side of the building and could not get here soon enough. I speak on this Amendment because it concerns the provision of benefits for those who, while not participating in a strike, are laid off because of it and who cannot draw unemployment benefit because...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: That is right. But it would be unfair not to mention that the hon. Members for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer) and Salford, West (Mr. Orme) fought very hard over that point with the right hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman), when he was Secretary of State, but failed. It does not make it any less of a case because when we have come into government we have not done what the Opposition...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I have always known that you have absolutely no problems. It is my Minister who has problems, and one of them will be me. The present law is based on an assumption that there is a special relationship or community of interest between a group of workers identified by a grade or class. 8.45 p.m. I want to say here that the leader of the union I have dealt...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: I accept that entirely. My experience in this case has been wonderful. Mr. Hurst has put himself out to tell me what are the arguments that will be put against me and what are the weak grounds of the case I am putting. He has done all in his power to avoid my standing here unqualified to put the case. Let me put a case which comes nearer home. We are all Members of Parliament. As back...
Mr Jeffrey Archer: Whether or not the Opposition accept it, I accept that the decision was not politically motivated. That thought had never crossed my mind. But to say that because the Labour Party did it when it was in power we should not do anything about it is not much of an argument for good law. We may as well keep the same Government the entire time.
Mr Jeffrey Archer: The hon. Gentleman has quoted the counter direct. No doubt he realises that is from "Much ado about nothing", which goes rather well with his speech.