Mrs Mary McAlister: I hope I may look for the kindly indulgence which I am told is traditional when Members address the House for the first time. I trust that that indulgence will not be withheld, because I may find it a little difficult to adhere to what I am told is the traditional practice for new Members, which is to keep their remarks entirely outside the realm of controversy. Having just emerged from a...
Mrs Mary McAlister: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been drawn to the shortage of hospital beds for maternity cases in Glasgow, a matter which, on account of the unsatisfactory housing conditions still obtaining in many districts, is causing concern to those responsible for the conduct of maternity and child welfare services in the City; and if he will undertake to ensure that...
Mrs Mary McAlister: While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that Answer, may I ask whether he is aware that this matter of beds for maternity cases is one of extreme urgency, since the infant mortality figures for Glasgow, although dramatically reduced in the last twenty years, are still about twice the national average?
Mrs Mary McAlister: asked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the steadily rising unemployment figures in Glasgow; whether he is aware that a substantial proportion of these figures refer to tradesmen, such as painters, who are normally busy at this time of year; and what steps he is taking to find alternative work for them.
Mrs Mary McAlister: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, but it amazes me in the extreme. Is he aware that at least one big firm in Glasgow, Scottish Signs, which does not object to being quoted, has told me that painters are normally very hard to get at this time of year but this year they are ten a penny? What is more, semi-skilled men who normally find no difficulty in getting work in the yards at...
Mrs Mary McAlister: The outstanding thing to me in any consideration of industry and unemployment in Scotland is what I can only call the consistent complacency of the Government. That is all the more extraordinary when we realise that hon. Members opposite who represent Scottish seats have the interests of Scotland at heart. There is no doubt about that. The hon. Member for Fife, East (Sir J....
Mrs Mary McAlister: What optimism.
Mrs Mary McAlister: I follow my hon. Friend the Member for Lanarkshire, North (Miss Herbison) only on one point, on account of shortage of time, but I have sat on these benches to await the debate because I feel so strongly about the Government's slowness in the use they are making at the moment of the empty sanatoria beds in Scotland. We were told, and I think that there are figures to prove it, that when the...
Mrs Mary McAlister: I was not necessarily referring only to Longriggend, but to many other hospitals which could well be used.
Mrs Mary McAlister: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he now has anything further to report in relation to an extension of maternity bed accommodation in Glasgow, as this problem is still giving concern to those responsible for the maternity services of the city.
Mrs Mary McAlister: Whilst thanking the hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that this is causing very grave concern, as I have stated in my Question, and that maternal and infant mortality figures were actually increased in the last M.O.H. Report? Is he aware that I am glad to hear that he is prepared to do something about this matter?
Mrs Mary McAlister: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sanatorium beds have been rendered vacant in the Glasgow area as a result of the new techniques in the treatment of tuberculosis; and to what extent he expects that a proportion of these beds will be avail-able soon for geriatric purposes.
Mrs Mary McAlister: Whilst again thanking the hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that large numbers of old people are still living in appalling conditions and that they cannot obtain geriatric beds? Is he aware that many of us are being driven to the reluctant conclusion that the Government have only two speeds—dead slow and stop—but that I am glad to know that they are making some...
Mrs Mary McAlister: We are worried about justice.
Mrs Mary McAlister: Hard cases make bad law.
Mrs Mary McAlister: The hon. Gentleman has said that there is no apparent reason why the wash-hand basin should be in the bathroom, but I think that it is an elementary requirement that it should be in the bathroom. I think this should be specifically written into the Bill, and I cannot accept what he says.
Mrs Mary McAlister: We are spending public money, and according to this the wash-hand basin could be anywhere.
Mrs Mary McAlister: In the constituency which I represent, there is a very large proportion of disrepair certificates in force at present, whereby the landlords have lost some rent. It seems to me that, under the terms of this Clause, a landlord can now receive public money to put the property in some sort of order and then put up the rent. Can that be right?
Mrs Mary McAlister: I am grateful that the Minister has accepted the principle of our Amendment. I may be guilty of oversimplification, but there was a time when I used to think that it would be extraordinary for a hot water supply to be in operation in a house but not to find its way to the kitchen sink or to the bath. Bitter experience, however, has taught me better. Different people have very different ideas...
Mrs Mary McAlister: I should like to return again to the question of maternity beds, a question which I have raised in the House more than once during the past year and which is rapidly becoming tragic in Glasgow. The Medical Officer of Health for Glasgow stated quite emphatically in his 1957–58 Report that practically no progress had been made in this matter. He repeated practically the same words to the...