Mr Sydney Irving: The Committee of which I was Chairman was appointed on 17th May after some skirmishing about its terms of reference. When the Committee met next day it was clear that there was to be a meeting of the European Heads of State on 12th and 13th July and that the Government would have to take a view at that meeting on the matters which are the responsibility of the Community and which are listed...
Mr Sydney Irving: The statement is made in the consultative document that there was general agreement. That general agreement is among Governments and no doubt the matter will be discussed in the debate tonight. There is a comprehensive summary about evidence attached to the report. We felt that all the evidence was there and that we should not get further elucidation by calling further oral evidence. As to...
Mr Sydney Irving: Order. I do not believe that those remarks have any bearing on what we are debating.
Mr Sydney Irving: The need for the debate and the reason for the blocking motion arise from the inclusion in the Bill of Clause 19 which releases British Rail from the obligation to run a ferry from Gravesend to Tilbury. This action was precipitated by the decision of Kent and Essex County Councils to withdraw the subsidy of £23,000 each which they had been paying to British Rail to continue the ferry...
Mr Sydney Irving: It applies especially for those who have no motor car. For people who need the ferry to enable them to get to work, its discontinuance would mean that they would either have to move house or find another job. The £23,000 was not too high a price to pay to avoid such hardship. I recognise the problems of British Rail in keeping going uneconomic services, and I cannot blame British Rail for...
Mr Sydney Irving: I think that that proposal may be involved in the amendment which reduces the obligation and which was part of the conversation that took place with the agents and the promoters of the Bill.
Mr Sydney Irving: We have just heard what I am sure more hon. Members regard as a wholly inadequate response to an important occasion. The right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe) left what should have been the main core of his remarks—his proposals for cuts in public expenditure—to the last five minutes of his speech and then mentioned two or three proposals which would have been...
Mr Sydney Irving: If within the next year or two we do not succeed in securing growth in manufacturing industry, there will be no education at all. Therefore, I am prepared to accept a slowing down of the rate of growth to enable recovery so that expansion can continue in a year or two. These are not cuts in any real sense. They are a slowing of the rate of expansion which was hoped for only last year. We...
Mr Sydney Irving: When I first came to the House I used to say that if we were starting from scratch we would never have as many as 630 Members of Parliament. I have now changed my tune. I now say that if we did not have that many we would never be able to staff the enormous number of Committees we have. The numbers have grown enormously in the past five years. In addition to Standing Committees we have about...
Mr Sydney Irving: I am pleased that the Government have provided the time and the opportunity for the fullest debate on this subject. The debate last February was dominated by Scottish and Welsh Members. Excluding Front Bench speakers, of the nearly 30 hon. Members who spoke, only six were Members for English constituencies. All the rest were from Scotland or Wales. If this were a matter of exclusive concern...
Mr Sydney Irving: I was about to say, in connection with odd by-elections and opinion polls, that taking a long view, no party should be more wary or sceptical about these things than the Labour Party. I believe that we are about to make a fundamental mistake. The thing that wins elections is in my view firm and effective Government. If we have made a mistake, the right thing to do is to go back and ask for...
Mr Sydney Irving: Like the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr. More), I am a member of a local authority—indeed, I am chairman of the finance committee—very much involved in the difficulties and problems facing local government. I understand the experience and the sympathy that the hon. Gentleman brings to this subject, and I very much appreciated listening to him. This is the first year in which the Consultative...
Mr Sydney Irving: That is exactly the point that I am seeking to make—that the imbalance between the rural areas and the outer metropolitan areas should be corrected by an additional amount on the transport support grant, which would make possible a uniform concession throughout the country. Councils face serious difficulties in providing against inflation. They will have to finance any inflation over 11...
Mr Sydney Irving: I am sorry that the hon. Member for Rochdale (Mr. Smith) took up the limited time that we have for this important debate to deal with his pet subject. It would have been more appropriate on other occasions. Whatever the future, we have a duty to find effective ways of dealing with this legislation now, legislation which is of great importance to our constituents. We are considering the first...
Mr Sydney Irving: The hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Raison) said that the matter will be settled shortly in the Division Lobby. I believe that the will of the House will be decisive in supporting the Bill. I welcome the amendments moved by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Planning and Local Government during the last two days. They put the position of the owner-occupier and the owner of a small piece of...
Mr Sydney Irving: As the Bill to deal with the construction industry "lump "is not to be before the House next week, will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that it will be laid before the House in the first week after Easter?
Mr Sydney Irving: I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Hooson) and the Liberal Party on their success in extracting from the official Opposition one Supply Day. I hope that this will be a precedent and that the Liberal Party will have much success in this respect in future. I felt a great deal of sympathy for some of the things that the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery said...
Mr Sydney Irving: Perhaps we are on common ground on this issue. As I said, if it is felt that some authorities have behaved extravagantly, we should not condemn them all but accept the offer made by the local authority associations to join in an attempt to ascertain the facts. We should appreciate the intolerable burdens and difficulties under which local councils have to operate. My council and, I am sure,...
Mr Sydney Irving: In view of the serious neglect by many county councils of their duties under Section 6 of the Act, does my hon. Friend consider that he should now himself, without further legislation, use his power of direction under Section 9?
Mr Sydney Irving: These are very important amendments. In reply to a question I put to him on Amendment No. 11 the Minister said that he was anxious to do everything possible to encourage the development of co-operative housing. I welcome these amendments, which are evidence of his determination and of the work of the working party. I am sure that Mr. Harold Campbell will take every advantage of the powers...
