Mr Irvine Patnick: Thank you for your protection, Madam Deputy Speaker. On 7 September 1987 the Evening Standard said that the Residents of a Council block were refused a £200 grant by the Council because the tenants' account is banked with Barclays Bank. In December 1987 The Guardian reported: The council advertised last December for a Senior Women's Equality Officer at a salary of £15,000. The job involves...
Mr Irvine Patnick: The hon. Member for Newham, North-West is quite wrong. I am giving examples of what Newham council has done. I do not recollect hearing any retraction concerning these allegations since I have been in the House.
Mr Irvine Patnick: I wonder whether the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mr. Flannery) could be given a hearing aid. I have been reciting the litany of Newham council's activities; I have not mentioned Sheffield, Bradford or any other areas. I thank the hon. Member for Hillsborough for his help and assistance. The 1986 manifesto of Sheffield district Labour party, which is larger than the Conservative...
Mr Irvine Patnick: I shall do so, if hon. Members wish.
Mr Irvine Patnick: Thank you for your protection, Madam Deputy Speaker. The hon. Member for Perry Barr will have heard before the quotation that I am about to give from the manifesto, but, sadly, the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) is not present. The front page of the manifesto says: The best local government is superb and private enterprise could never improve on it, with Sheffield a shining...
Mr Irvine Patnick: It was in 1968, comrade. At that time, the lord mayor of Sheffield city council had a casting vote. The hon. Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) was chief whip of the Labour group. It operated the ultimate fiddle to maintain control of that council. The city had 27 aldermen, but if the Conservatives had been given the correct number of aldermen it would have remained in control of the city. The...
Mr Irvine Patnick: With respect, Madam Deputy Speaker, it is related to the Bill because we are discussing creative accounting—
Mr Irvine Patnick: That is more than the hon. Member for Hillsborough has done since I have been in Parliament. Under the community charge, more than half the households will be better off, four out of five single pensioners will be better off and nearly nine out of 10 one-parent families will be better off. Almost everybody pays. That means that the poorest can pay less. Four million people will pay only 20...
Mr Irvine Patnick: I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman knows that I served my time in the guerilla trenches of south Yorkshire and Sheffield. His remarks do not worry me. I shall make the speech that I intended to make. The district auditor's report said that a saving of £600,000 a year could be made on the cleaning and caretaking of schools. Referring to the cost of £12 million for heating and lighting the...
Mr Irvine Patnick: The hon. Member for Perry Barr said it. He pointed out where the South Yorkshire police authority was short of money. Sheffield city council is short of £3·7 million. There is still fat on the bones of Sheffield city council, despite all the hard work it has done to come into the 20th century. I am proud to have been a member of Sheffield city council. Despite the comments by the hon....
Mr Irvine Patnick: It is under Labour control, as the MEP for Sheffield keeps reminding us. I often wonder what the people of Sheffield are getting out of Europe when the hon. Gentleman is sitting in this Chamber. Nevertheless, he wears two hats, one representing Bradford and the other Sheffield, but I suppose that both places are in the north of England. I repeat that I am proud to have been a Sheffield city...
Mr Irvine Patnick: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During my speech you ruled that I was straying from the subject matter and I immediately returned to it. I do not think that the hon. Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Wall) has yet come anywhere near the subject matter.
Mr Irvine Patnick: Has the North Yorkshire national park any planning controls, or are they vested in the North Yorkshire county council?
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Tuesday 1 November.
Mr Irvine Patnick: Is my right hon. Friend aware of the growing action of local communities, highlighted by the Daily Express, in removing litter, graffiti and fly posting from our streets? Should that not be encouraged and more people involved so as to rid this blot from our streets, towns and cities?
Mr Irvine Patnick: Do the additional powers for financing the Health Service include the powers of leasing, placing money on the overnight money market and borrowing? If this is not readily clear, could consideration be given to this approach to generate income?
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of Estate Action funding for the years 1987–88 and 1988–89, respectively.
Mr Irvine Patnick: I thank my hon. Friend for that response and, on behalf of Sheffield, for the £7 million that it received. This year we shall receive £6·8 million and, as an Oliver Twist, may I ask whether there will be any more please for next year? If so, how much?
Mr Irvine Patnick: A what?
Mr Irvine Patnick: I understand that the casting vote is now in the hands of a Communist.