Mr Reginald Freeson: That applies to all other countries.
Mr Reginald Freeson: The reason for my intervention was that the right hon. and learned Gentleman was singling out one major power for his remarks in connection with the balance between economic prosperity and the arms burden. The whole world cannot carry on like this. Millions of people are starving in Africa, while millions of other people throughout the rest of the world are living in poverty. That will lead...
Mr Reginald Freeson: No matter how much private investment is brought into joint action with public authorities, we need more public investment to deal with the very large number of private dwellings that are in grave need of repair and renovation and could be put to use by housing associations and local authorities if money were available to buy and repair them.
Mr Reginald Freeson: Will the Prime Minister be a little more specific about the impact of the statement on co-operation against international terrorism? Is there to be increased funding for Interpol, which is short of resources? Are there to be any moves towards economic sanctions, following the example of the United States requesting the withdrawal of oil investments in Libya? Is there to be any cut in arms...
Mr Reginald Freeson: asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 8 May.
Mr Reginald Freeson: Has the Prime Minister seen today's report of the Congressional decision to refuse endorsements of the latest proposals for arms exports to a middle east country? Does she sympathise with that rejection? Will she participate in trying to cut the obscene pouring of billions of pounds' worth of offensive arms equipment into middle east countries, causing political instability and the threat and...
Mr Reginald Freeson: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the concern among hon. Members about the Government not making representations about the accident in Russia does not imply that the British Government or Britain were to blame for what happened? Why were representations not made? Will representations about such models be made from now on? It has been reported—none of us can yet be sure that it has any...
Mr Reginald Freeson: asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 6 May
Mr Reginald Freeson: Has the Leader of the House seen the reports on the Top Salaries Review Body proposals, which will probably lead to an increase of £100 a week for certain top brass in the Army, the Civil Service and judges? Will he give an undertaking now on behalf of the Government that when that report is formally received there will at least be a freeze on any proposals along those lines so that we do...
Mr Reginald Freeson: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the links are even closer than that? There is evidence of links between the National Front and associated groups in this country and certain extremist Protestant groups in Northern Ireland. In some instances those links lead to suspected gun and ammunition running from this country to Northern Ireland to assist extremist groups such as those to which the hon....
Mr Reginald Freeson: Brent schools are in crisis. This has been developing for years, but some schools are verging on breakdown. Teacher morale is sinking, partly because of the Government's pay policy but due also to political factions interfering in school administration and the abuse of so-called "anti-racism" in appointments and curricula. Parents are placing more than 20 per cent. of our children in schools...
Mr Reginald Freeson: Why is the Minister fudging answers to this question? Is it not the case that it is Government policy for health authorities to dispose of all these properties, or as many of them as possible, and that action is being taken now? Will he ensure that that kind of policy is not given support by the Department in future and, if there are to be disposals of property in some cases, that the land...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I should like to make an observation on the remarks of the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry). If one wants the economic and social ethos to which he referred, national standards will have to be set. If one wants national standards to be set, it is the Government who should be in the lead on that. One will not get a willingness to undertake increased research and training, which the hon....
Mr Reginald Freeson: Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Although we accept your ruling about debates and exchanges on the costing of Opposition programmes, can you advise us what we can do, not about the costings as such, but about the publication of facts and figures attributed to documents which do not exist? I refer to item 13 in the answer concerned, in which it is stated, for example, that,...
Mr Reginald Freeson: The Secretary of State may well give us some grand and eloquent rhetoric on this matter, but is he aware that the Government have cut sharply the budget for the home insulation scheme? Whatever the 90 per cent. grants may be, if the total budget is cut grants are not available to people anyway. Is he further aware that there has been a massive cut not only in the number but in the standards...
Mr Reginald Freeson: Why has this matter taken so long, whether or not through the usual channels? It is not months, but several years, that Members of this House, including myself, have been asking the right hon. Gentleman and others for action in this direction. If it is now an agreed policy, why is something not being done about it shortly?
Mr Reginald Freeson: At the beginning of the Minister's speech he said that "policy must match the importance of the subject." Nobody would disagree with that. On the contrary, we, and I trust Conservative Members, would advocate that and seek to practise it. However, if we seek to put those words into practice rather than treat them as rehetoric, we must match the objective with the resources. That is where the...
Mr Reginald Freeson: The Minister must accept that the figures he has quoted are no more than a tiny fraction of the massive thousands of millions of pounds that are spent each year on education nationally. Does he agree that what is much more important, and is receiving little or no attention, is the shift of the main line budget for education into the inner city areas? Does he accept that there is a direct...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I shall not follow the last part of the remarks of the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Sir G. Finsberg), but I would like to make one or two observations on the main part of his speech which related to the problems of tenants of what are mostly called mansion blocks. They are primarily located in certain parts of inner London, some in my constituency, many in the hon. Gentleman's...
Mr Reginald Freeson: The hon. Gentleman is making the usual generalised point. That was not the reason that was given. I am not saying that there were no criticisms. There were criticisms of the controls. I am examining the view expressed by those who strongly advocated complete decontrol and who projected the financial implications and the kind of rent levels. They were not considering what might happen five...