Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I am grateful to you, Mr. Weatherill, for calling me to speak, and I hope that I may be allowed to say, having known you in your previous incarnation, that one of my first experiences of the wisdom of the House was that it should have elected you to the high office that you now hold. My hon. Friend the Member for St. Marylebone (Mr. Baker), in seconding the motion on the Queen's Speech,...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: Is my right hon. Friend aware that early-day motion 17, calling for a ban on the import of whale products and urging the Government to work for international agreement to bring about the end of the slaughter of whales on the high seas, has now been signed by nearly 100 right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House? [That this House urges Her Majesty's Government to ban the import of...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: The hon. Lady has quoted from ITEM. Her right hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Mr. Davies) and the former Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey), have already quoted with some relish from the same report. I hope she agrees that the statement by ITEM begins by saying that the situation in which the country finds itself is an appalling one. It says that we have high...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: Or anybody else.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: asked the Minister of Transport whether he is satisfied with the present standard of service on British Railways commuter lines.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I am grateful for that reply. In view of the difficulties and hardships suffered by commuters in the past five years, will my right hon. Friend confirm that there will be no autumn rise in fares this year?
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 24 July.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: In the course of her busy day, will my right hon. Friend find time to ask her hon. Friend the Minister of State for Housing and Construction to speed up the preparation of the housing Bill? More important, can she give an assurance that the right of council tenants to purchase will be enshrined in that Bill in such a way as to make it impossible for Labour-controlled authorities to deny...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: asked the Secretary tary of State for the Home Department if, in view of the considerable contribution made to the police service by police cadet courses, he will take steps to restore the position for admission of cadets which existed prior to the October 1976 cuts introduced by the previous Government.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for that reply. Is he aware that the wastage rate among cadets going into the police force is authoritatively estimated to be about one in 100, whereas the wastage rate for adult entry is as now as low as one in three? Is he aware also that in my own county of Hertfordshire, where the possible intake of cadets is 60, since the cuts by the previous...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: Does my right hon. Friend agree that, in the light of comments made by my right hon. and hon. Friends, the best advice that could be given to the Labour Party is contained in the lines of Alexander Pope: Let such teach others who themselves excel. And censure freely who have written well.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: Do I understand that, in supporting the alternative Opposition, as represented by the Bench below the Gangway, the hon. Gentleman is opposed to all cuts? If that is so, how would he propose to deal with the £4,000 million overspend which the official Opposition had planned? How would that be financed? Would it be 20 per cent. VAT, 40 per cent. on the basic rates, or a combination of both?
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: Cheap. That is a disgraceful remark.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I promise that I shall try to make the shortest speech of the evening. The order has been interpreted by hon. Members on the Opposition Benches as an order that will automatically lead to a change in attitude by the Conservative Government in their aid policy. There was an interesting intervention when an hon. Member reminded the right hon. Member for Lanark (Dame Judith Hart) of the moment...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I have not yet started to develop my case. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The point I am trying to make is that I do not accept, as I am sure my right hon. and hon Friends do not accept, that this administrative change, in itself, necessarily means a change of attitude by the Government. I had the feeling that many Labour Members were making this point, as wish being father to the...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: One accepts that there are risks in foreign policy becoming involved in overseas aid. As there are so many poor people in the world, does the hon. Member think that it is dishonourable to give more money to a country which is likely to be friendly and less to those countries which support political theories to which we are opposed?
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: It is not being withdrawn.
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will be aware that yesterday, for the first time, we had the experiment of 10-minute speeches after 7 pm. I was present during most of that time and I detected an inhibition on the part of some hon. Members to give way to other lion. Members. There seemed to be a feeling that perhaps this would eat into their time allocation. I should be very grateful,...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I am interested to hear the comments that my hon. Friend has received from his constituents. Is he aware that the Mount Vernon hospital is held in high esteem in my constituency? I have received a number of written representations from people who not only work at that hospital but receive medical care there. Many people are concerned that if this casualty service is closed, urgent emergency...
Mr Tristan Garel-Jones: I am sorry that the hon. Member for Felt-ham and Heston (Mr. Kerr) is no longer in his seat, because both he and I are members of the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs. My experience as a member of that union has taught me one thing at least. It is that as members of unions, and as active branch members, we have to be very careful before venturing to give an opinion...