Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I am happy to make my first contribution as a Member of the House, and I am pleased to be called immediately after the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East (Mr. Ellis). I hope that I make as eloquent a contribution as he did. The hon. Member for Brigg and Scunthorpe (Mr. Brown) described his constituency as unique, and in that he was right. Every constituency is unique, and every...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has received the report from his inspector on the application by the North-West water authority for a net limitation order in respect of the Lune Estuary; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I express to my hon. Friend the gratitude with which that answer will be received in North Lancashire. It will reassure the people in the area that, notwithstanding the interests of many who are opposed to the confirmation of that order, there is some hope for the survival of fish stocks in the area.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: That is a shame.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: My hon. Friend assented to the view expressed by the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) that the provisions of clause 4(2) would allow the accompanying adult to leave. Does he agree that the subsection would permit a person under 14 accompanied by an adult to be in the bar, not to enter the bar? If so, that would cover the point made by the hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I have looked at the figures and should be grateful if my hon. Friend could enlighten me on the answer that I was given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security on 31 October last on this matter. He explained that there was no agreed definition of alcoholism, and he purported to define it statistically, first, on the basis of the number of deaths from...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: Much has been made of the difficulties of the police going into public houses where children may be, but what about the present arrangements in regard to clubs? Children are allowed to go into working men's clubs throughout the country. Why does the hon. Gentleman feel that the police are not thereby inconvenienced, and how does he make the great distinction when we are talking about an...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: My hon. Friend has quoted at some length from the view of the Croydon association of the National Union of Licensed Victuallers. Will he comment upon the official letter of the National Union of Licensed Victuallers, which says, in its closing words: We trust that we can count on your support on 30 November to ensure that the Bill receives its Second Reading"?
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: In supporting the Bill, I should disclose an interest in that I have a shareholding in a well-known brewery—Arthur Guinness, Son and Co.—whose future might be affected by the Bill. The opposition to the Bill seems to have been conducted with a surprising lack of proportion. There seems to be some fanciful, typically romantic British idea that all the nation's drinking is done in public...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that comment. Let me remind him that the suggestion is that there could be half an hour extra in the evening, possibly an hour, but no more.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: If the hon. Member considers that it is unsocial to work before 10 o'clock in the morning, I wish him well, but it is not unsocial to work between 10 and 11 am.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: That may be so, but no one argues that working between 10 and 11 is unsocial. There will be no more than an hour in the evening of what could be called unsocial hours, yet one would think from the description of the NALHM that it was a dreadful thing. The association is motivated by legitimate self-interest, so one is entitled to scrutinise carefully what it says. The other limb of the...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: Of course, the hon. Member is right. This is not a Bill which is dealing with alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is a serious matter which must be looked at in a totally different way. But still one has to face this retort. If the hours are not increased at any time during the day, and if we have only an extra half-hour or hour at night, how will that increase alcoholism, particularly as...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I am grateful to my hon. Friend because he makes the point that I was about to make. I shall come on to children in due course. But if that is my hon. Friend's objection to the Bill, may we take it from him that he has no objections to the hours provisions in the Bill and that he does not feel that those provisions will create difficulties? That is the implication behind his remarks. If he...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I am glad at any rate that my hon. Friend does not feel that the hours provision is at the root of the matter. I have dealt with the main aspect of that point, but I want to ask this question, on which my hon. Friend will no doubt also be able to dwell. Are we to hear at a future date—not this evening—arguments for reducing the licensing hours for the public houses in the United Kingdom?...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I am grateful for my hon. Friend's intervention. It illuminates one facet of the debate. If we are not to see an argument in favour of the reduction of licensing hours, why not? It is interesting that several Members have overlooked the fact that the Bill provides the opportunity for public houses to open at times of the day—the afternoon, in the main—when most people in the country do...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman, but I know that other hon. Members wish to speak.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I apologise to the hon. Gentleman. I invite him to repeat his remarks because I was interrupted by one of my hon. Friends.
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: I shall deal briefly with the aspect of children. A great deal of pious prudery has been expressed on the subject. Most children I know who are under the age of 14 spend much of their lime watching television. It is a false observation to imagine that children will see more alcohol consumption in public houses than on television. It cannot be said that children will be exposed to...
Mr Mark Lennox-Boyd: Does my hon. Friend agree that if there were less reluctance in some areas of the Civil Service, such as the Department of Health and Social Security, to introduce computers, there would be further scope for staff reductions?
