Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next plans to meet representatives of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce to discuss industrial policy.
Mr Alexander Eadie: The Secretary of State must be aware that 125,000 jobs were lost in the first 10 weeks of 1992. If the projection is to be believed, another 400,000 jobs are a t risk unless there is a change in industrial policy. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the most scathing indictment of the Chancellor's Budget judgment was his admission that unemployment would increase? What kind of Government...
Mr Alexander Eadie: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. As it now seems to be in order to complain, may I tell you that after 26 years in this House this was my last chance to have a say in Scottish Question Time. So I was surprised that you did not call me, given that I am one of the senior Members here and I made every endeavour to catch your eye. I wish you well in your retirement, but I am disappointed that I...
Mr Alexander Eadie: Does the Secretary of State realise that his comments have failed to persuade the House that the policy that he and the Government are operating is right? It is a gross slander on the miners to talk about the cost of coal and about productivity when miners in Britain are achieving record productivity figures. How can the right hon. Gentleman stand at the Dispatch Box and seek to justify the...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the financial position of provider units in the NHS.
Mr Alexander Eadie: Does the right hon. Gentleman deny that there was an attempt to cover up the fact that many of those units are in serious financial difficulties? Since the matter is in the public domain, as a consequence of information from his Department reaching the public which was not intended to reach them, how does he propose to deal with the matter? What proposals has he to put before the House this...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cumulative total of all taxes from North sea oil has been since 1979 in 1991–92 prices.
Mr Alexander Eadie: Is the Minister aware that the Government have just announced that they have achieved a financial bonanza that no previous Government in history have enjoyed? Bearing in mind the millions of pounds that the Government raised from privatisations—the selling of the family silver—and all the money that has been raked into the Treasury, should not the Economic Secretary stand at the Dispatch...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about levels of employment within the agricultural industry.
Mr Alexander Eadie: I thank the Minister for the information that he has given the House. Does he agree that farmers and farmworkers are the backbone of rural communities? Is he aware that this year their numbers have declined by about 9,000? Is the Minister also aware that, in my area of Lothian, since the Government gained office, roughly one third of farmworkers have lost their jobs? Will the hon. Gentleman...
Mr Alexander Eadie: Does the hon. Gentleman agree that today's announcement about the import of gas is bound to cause confusion as the country knows that we are more than self-sufficient in indigenous sources of energy? Does he agree that, as gas prices will increase by about 50 per cent. in the next five or six years, the deal is not a good one for consumers? The country knows that we import 20 million or 30...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what notification he received about the contraction of the work force in Ferranti Dalkeith; and what was his response.
Mr Alexander Eadie: I am sure that the Minister agrees that the proposal to shed to two thirds of the work force in Ferranti Dalkeith is a severe blow to the 146 employees involved. It is all the more deplorable when one considers that it is high-tech industry with a very skilled work force whom we should wish to retain in the economy. Midlothian has lost far too many jobs through closures and contractions. I...
Mr Alexander Eadie: As a Member of Parliament sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers, of which I have been a member for 58 years —having joined it before the Secretary of State was born —I am extremely proud of its traditions and history. The right hon. and learned Gentleman's proposed legislation is neither an industrial relations charter nor an industrial relations Bill, but an anti-trade union...
Mr Alexander Eadie: Is the hon. Gentleman not aware that the miners of this country feel betrayed by the Government? Is he aware that they posed me the question, "Is anybody in the Government prepared to stand up and fight to defend the coal industry?" Is he further aware that they feel that the chairman of British Coal acts as if he is a clone of the Government?
Mr Alexander Eadie: The Minister has just said that the 1908 Act is to be repealed. However, I understand that health and safety issues come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Employment and the Health and Safety Commission. Can the Minister tell the House why the Department of Energy has chosen to pilot the repeal of the 1908 Act when responsibility for it comes under the jurisdiction of the...
Mr Alexander Eadie: The Minister himself was making a party political point in his reply. Will he come back to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths)? The Department of the Environment says that the Government's position is untenable. Is the Minister aware that France, Germany and Spain have carried out their undertakings under the agreement? Does he not realise...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the current level of intervention stocks in the United Kingdom and the EC.
Mr Alexander Eadie: The Minister must be aware that under the 1988 reform package we were assured that intervention stocks would disappear, but they are now at record levels, whether for skimmed milk, butter, beef or cereals. Does the Minister agree that that reform package was merely a cosmetic exercise? Does he further agree that we must now have a fundamental review of the 1988 package, as advocated by the...
Mr Alexander Eadie: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 November.
