Mr Tom Driberg: Can the right hon. Gentleman say when, in the Government's opinion, autumn finishes? The matter is of wider consequence, as we have had no assurance that there will not be a winter Budget.
Mr Tom Driberg: Does the hon. Gentleman know anything about the conditions of non-English-speaking workers from Hong Kong, many of whom are employed in Chinese restaurants in London? Is he aware that in some cases their pay and hours of work are appalling? As they do not speak English, they do not know what is the situation here and what are their rights.
Mr Tom Driberg: Does the Prime Minister recall the great concern shown by a former Prime Minister—Mr. Macmillan—when his attention was drawn to the forecasts by Edinburgh geneticists of the number of babies likely to be born blind or deformed as a result of tests up to that date? Will he say whether any similar research is being done officially here, or in conjunction with scientists in New Zealand and...
Mr Tom Driberg: When was the decision about parcels taken and why was it announced only very late apparently on Saturday night in a confusing form, so that it could reach only the later editions of the Sunday papers? Will the right hon. Gentleman clarify what is being refused and where?
Mr Tom Driberg: Will the right hon. Gentleman arrange for an early statement by the Minister for Energy, in view of yesterday's statement by the Chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board entirely contradicting the Minister's statements and saying that the public have responded satisfactorily to the appeals for economy and that there is no need for the sterner measures foreshadowed by the Minister?
Mr Tom Driberg: Will my hon. Friend mention the cost to the health service of pharmaceuticals and especially those drugs prescribed under brand names?
Mr Tom Driberg: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. If you are allowing the Minister to read his speech, Mr. Deputy Speaker, will you ask him to read it a little more vividly?
Mr Tom Driberg: Would not the resources be increased greatly if the right hon. Gentleman could stop prescribing under brand names? Secondly, would the right hon. Gentleman say whereabouts in the Government's scale of priority he puts the most under-privileged group of all, who need speech therapy and much more besides—the relatively few children and adolescents who are autistic?
Mr Tom Driberg: Obviously, the provisions of the Bill will be extremely welcome to candidates of all parties, and we do not oppose it in principle. But I think it legitimate to observe, Mr. Speaker, that the recommendation of your Conference is an explicit recognition of the appalling inflation and atrocious rise in the cost of living which has taken place under this outgoing Conservative Government. Only a...
Mr Tom Driberg: Of course. It goes up every day. That is one of the reasons why we on this side welcome the forthcoming General Election, so that my party, which will then, I believe, be in government—I shall not be here myself—may take practical steps to redeem the present Prime Minister's promise to cut prices at a stroke, or take steps which would reduce inflation at a stroke. The Conservative...
Mr Tom Driberg: —is part of the necessity which arises from the Prime Minister's decision to call the General Election with what is really a quite unseemly rush.
Mr Tom Driberg: As I have said, the early election is welcomed by the Opposition. We have always said the sooner the better. But I remind the right hon. Gentleman that Clement Attlee, at the conclusion of one of his periods of government, announced with general consent from all parties at the time that he was against so-called "snap" elections, that he would not have one, and therefore that he had decided to...