Mr Reginald Freeson: The hon. Gentleman referred to the British Board of Film Censors. That body has existed for a long time as a self-regulating system within the industry. Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind or accept the possibility that the Standing Committee will go further towards self-regulation than the Bill now does? Some hon. Members accept completely and enthusiastically the general objectives of the...
Mr Reginald Freeson: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to implement the recommendations of the working party review of museums in Northern Ireland.
Mr Reginald Freeson: Does the Minister agree that the report makes a vitally important point when it argues that the development of the museums would not only create direct employment but would encourage and attract industry to the Province? Does the Minister agree that he should make available the funds necessary for the developments proposed?
Mr Reginald Freeson: In pursuing that point, which the Prime Minister stressed constantly today as she has on other occasions, does she accept that no section of the population of the United Kingdom can have a veto on discussion or on working out alternative political frameworks and ideas, wherever in the House or the country that section may be found? Does the right hon. Lady accept that the veto should not mean...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I listened with great interest to the non-political approach of the Minister and of the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Mr. Finsberg). I make no complaint about that. In fact, I shall follow suit. I have no objection to—indeed, I welcome —the sponsorship of a more effective organisation for dealing with civil disasters and for community service of a physical nature throughout...
Mr Reginald Freeson: That may or may not be the case, but that is not the point that I was making. Whether civil defence is organised through local or through central Government agencies, if the Government are not prepared to devote massive resources to such a policy, they can have no intention of providing genuine civil defence. The resources required would be enormous, and the Government are not prepared to...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I think that the hon. Gentleman has misunderstood me. We have only two examples, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of the explosion of an atomic or nuclear bomb. To say the least, it does not follow that that is what we would experience in any future war. Expert medical opinion does not hold that we can plan to survive such a nuclear war. I do not need to quote medical opinion, because we have all...
Mr Reginald Freeson: What does the Minister mean by referring to the use of a small nuclear weapon? Will he define that a little more closely?
Mr Reginald Freeson: asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department will take steps to encourage the provision of additional woodlands and green space in the inner city areas.
Mr Reginald Freeson: Does the Minister agree that, compared with the expenditure of about £18,000 million a year in local government, the figures that he has quoted for improving the environment and greening it are paltry? Does he agree also that one of the best ways to avoid the pressures on the green belt, referred to earlier, and to avoid pressures to build more housing estates way out in the countryside in...
Mr Reginald Freeson: While accepting that the proposed forum will not have a constitutional significance, will it be possible for discussions within the forum to encompass exchanges of view about the future relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic and the rest of the United Kingdom?
Mr Reginald Freeson: Will the Secretary of State bear in mind in the forthcoming discussions, and in future similar discussions, that the British people will not always put up with the fact that any proposals to bring together all sides in the whole of Ireland are vetoed by one group in the United Kingdom? Does he agree that Parliament and the Government must take into account the interests and views of the...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Richmond and Barnes (Mr. Hanley), and to congratulate him on the manner in which he made his remarks. I agreed with much of the content of his speech. I even found enjoyable the quotes from his election manifesto, which he made towards the end of his speech. Whether I would phrase my remarks in the same way is another matter. I have some knowledge...
Mr Reginald Freeson: In making his constituency or borough points, the hon. Gentleman overlooks the fact that powers of compulsory purchase, to which I did not refer, exist already. They have existed for many years, so what I am suggesting is not new in that respect. Land assembly is by no means simply a question of compulsory purchase. Indeed, if only people would get rid of their obsession with shibboleths,...
Mr Reginald Freeson: We all remember what had to happen a few years later. Let us turn our attention to the real problems. Let us get off the hook of the one or two sentences that were pushed into the Conservative party's manifesto at the last moment. Let us have a proper examination of what needs to be done in London and get on with the job of serving the people of London without any more political gimmicks.
Mr Reginald Freeson: The hon. Gentleman has said that £53 million is to be provided under the urban programme for a variety of local authorities. He claimed that there has been an additional resource provided for inner city authorities. Is he aware that Brent has lost £35 million by the Government's withdrawal of rate support grant? The losses of all the other authorities amount to more in terms of public...
Mr Reginald Freeson: Is it not the case that the most important aspect of the problem is the insulation of old houses, coupled with the question of standing charges? Will the Minister undertake to consult the Minister for Housing and Construction and the Secretary of State for Energy to see whether standing charges can be abolished or at least greatly diminished for certain categories and that a major campaign is...
Mr Reginald Freeson: I use my phrases carefully. They are not normally put in such terms. However the hon. Gentleman's behaviour even while his hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (Mr. Benyon) was speaking and his behaviour in Committee, as I read the record, led me to the conclusion that I made. I stand by it.
Mr Reginald Freeson: There is surely a world of difference between an organisation that provides housing with a view to negotiating voluntarily different tenure arrangements with its tenants and the position of that organisation when it is compelled to do what it judges to be wrong in terms of housing policy, reinforced by a compulsion put upon it to deal with houses provided before the Bill in the same way.
Mr Reginald Freeson: I will not bother with that intervention. What the Government are doing with regard to charitable organisations is wrong. I believe that when they consider it quietly away from the Chamber and Committee, they, too, will believe it to be wrong. Conservative Members may have similar thoughts. What is wrong about the Bill is that the Government are not entitled to rewrite history by attaching...