Mr Niall MacDermot: Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that, while awaiting some pronouncement from the Sugar Board, manufacturers have imposed on the trade an allocation system which is gravely interfering with the working of the trade, and that some retailers have had their supplies cut by as much as 40 per cent. and cannot possibly handle the Christmas trade until there is some clarification of the...
Mr Niall MacDermot: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what other countries have made reservations in matters affecting national security in their acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; and in what terms.
Mr Niall MacDermot: If no other countries have made reservations in matters affecting national security, can the Foreign Secretary explain what he meant when, in connection with this matter, in the debate on the Address he said—explaining the reason for our reservation— I think that in matters of national security we have to reserve our position when other countries do. When every country in the Soviet bloc...
Mr Niall MacDermot: On that point are not we completely protected from the countries which make no acceptance of the jurisdiction at all by our reciprocity reservation? The fact is that, of all the other countries which accept the jurisdiction of the International Court, we are the only one which has made this reservation, and thus is not it a fact that the reciprocity rule completely protects us against Iron...
Mr Niall MacDermot: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has reconsidered the terms of Her Majesty's Government's reservation in their acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in matters affecting national security, in particular in the light of the criticisms by Judge Sir Hersch Lauterpacht in the Norwegian Loans case; and whether he will now...
Mr Niall MacDermot: The Foreign Secretary has said that he will reconsider this question. Can he state why he wishes to preserve the position in the present form? Is not it a fact that the only judge of the International Court who has expressed any view on the form of this reservation expressed the view that this makes the whole of our acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction invalid, and will the right hon....
Mr Niall MacDermot: (by Private Notice) asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has any statement to make concerning the rail crash last night at Lewisham.
Mr Niall MacDermot: I am sure that I speak for all my right hon. and hon. Friends in saying that we would wish to be associated with the expression of sympathy for the relatives of the bereaved and injured in this terrible disaster. [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."] Equally, we would wish to be associated with the tributes paid to the heroism and devotion of the rescue workers and all those who live nearby who...
Mr Niall MacDermot: Like my hon. Friend the Member for Nelson and Colne (Mr. S. Silverman), I had intended to begin with an apology to the President of the Board of Trade that I was unable to be present to hear his opening speech on the Bill. Like my hon. Friend, however, I have been given to understand by my hon. and learned Friends that there is, perhaps, little ground for apology as the right hon. Gentleman's...
Mr Niall MacDermot: I accept your advice, Mr. Speaker. A much more comprehensive Bill was introduced four years ago with the purpose of substituting on a permanent basis power for the Government to replace powers which were necessary for them during the war and which have been found necessary to be continued and perpetuated after the war and for the future. That Bill was heavily attacked by the backwoodsmen in...
Mr Niall MacDermot: The hon. Gentleman says that the Government have accepted it for defence, but why accept it for defence and not for health drugs? What is the difference in principle? Are armaments manufacturers more public-spirited in this respect in America than the manufacturers of antibiotics which have been developed in America? Surely, we are believed to be dealing here with hard-headed business men. I...
Mr Niall MacDermot: There is a provision in Clause 8 entitling the husband to apply for the discharge of the order, but how is he to be able to satisfy the magistrates that in future he will be a good payer when all his payments up to then will have been made as the result of the order by deductions by his employer from his wages?
Mr Niall MacDermot: Will the hon. and learned Gentleman agree that nevertheless this would apply only to arrears and not to current payments? In other words, all the procedure of garnishee orders and charging orders can be used only to enforce an order for arrears and not an order for current payment.
Mr Niall MacDermot: asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the qualifications for admission as an advocate of the Bar in Uganda, Tanganyika, and Kenya, respectively, of a person qualified as a barrister or solicitor in England; what forms of employment are permitted during any period of residential qualification; what financial assistance is granted by the Colonial Governments concerned; and what is the...
Mr Niall MacDermot: I thank the Minister for that statement. Is he aware that the regulations, of which I hope we shall get full details, are creating a very real problem for Africans who come here in order to qualify and, having done so, are in a position where they would be allowed to practise in our courts but, on returning to their own countries, have to wait for a further substantial period—when they are...
Mr Niall MacDermot: Will not the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?
Mr Niall MacDermot: rose—
Mr Niall MacDermot: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Mr Niall MacDermot: I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that implicit in the argument which the right hon. and learned Gentleman is putting there is undoubtedly an allegation of malice against my right hon. Friend the Member for Huyton (Mr. H. Wilson). The reason is this. Supposing that my right hon. Friend was not protected by the doctrine of absolute Privilege, it would still be necessary, in order to establish...
Mr Niall MacDermot: I do not intend to follow the arguments of the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Chertsey (Sir L. Heald) other than to repeat again, not as a point of order, Mr. Speaker, the points of law that I attempted to put to him. If he has a reply to make, I will be only too glad to give way to him even though he would not give way to me. The whole tenor of his speech was that my right...