Mr Thomas Steele: asked the Minister of Aviation what proportion of the estimated expenditure in the 1963–64 Air Vote 7F will be spent in Scotland.
Mr Thomas Steele: The Secretary of State for Scotland must be delighted that on this Bill being introduced there should be so much agreement between my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Ross) and the hon. Member for Ayr (Sir T. Moore). I am looking forward to the Committee stage and to the efforts of my hon. Friend, on the one hand, and those of the hon. Gentleman, on the other, in pressing the...
Mr Thomas Steele: Not in Barlinnie.
Mr Thomas Steele: I may be wrong in my interpretation, but I thought that I carefully refrained from making any proposition as to how it should be done. What I tried to do was to ask that nothing should be in the Bill to prohibit the Secretary of State from doing what he might think should be done.
Mr Thomas Steele: Why is there no full-time road safety officer in the Minister's Department? There are a number of full-time road safety officers attached to the Ministry of Transport. This suggestion was made to the Scottish Office a number of years ago and consideration was to be given to it. What has happened? Why do we not have a full-time officer in the Scottish Office?
Mr Thomas Steele: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to amend Section 29 of the Militia Act, 1882, in such a way as to ensure that the convener of a county council would act as lord lieutenant during his period of office.
Mr Thomas Steele: Would the noble Lady say why the lord provosts of the four cities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh are automatically the lords lieutenant of the county? Having accepted that principle, why should not the convener of a county council who is the democratically elected representative and spokesman of the people be in this position? If her right hon. Friend has any sympathy with this...
Mr Thomas Steele: Are we to assume that because the Conservative Party believes that something was right in the time of George III it should not be altered?
Mr Thomas Steele: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to make a statement on the proposal to supply mid-Scotland with water from Loch Lomond.
Mr Thomas Steele: Can the Under-Secretary say whether a decision is to be taken that a scheme to take water from Loch Lomond should be carried out? Is he aware that a large number of interests in my constituency are involved, and that adequate time will have to be provided so that what these interests have to say can be heard before a final decision is taken?
Mr Thomas Steele: Are we to understand that the decision to go ahead with the Tay Road Bridge has priority over the bridge at Erskine, or may we say that both these projects will be taken on their merits?
Mr Thomas Steele: In view of the fact that wage levels generally in Scotland are much lower than south of the Border—and the Minister has himself indicated that he wants the recipients to have the benefit of much improved standards—has the Board stated how it will apply the wages stop, as much of the benefit will not accrue to the recipients because of the wages stop in many instances?
Mr Thomas Steele: I found the speech of the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, West (Mr. Hendry) rather extraordinary. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Leith (Mr. Hoy) will readily appreciate the assistance that speech gave to his remarks, because the moral of the hon. Gentleman's speech was that he wants a review of local government expenditure. The hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, West went on in a curious...
Mr Thomas Steele: asked the Minister of Labour what is the number of employees, at the latest available date, engaged in the manufacture of parts and accessories of motor vehicles, and in the aircraft industry; and what proportion of those employees is located in Scotland.
Mr Thomas Steele: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that his reply to this Question and previous ones is a clear indication of the Government's complete failure properly to plan the location of industry? Will he, in conjunction with his right hon. Friends the President of the Board of Trade and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, consider these figures with a view to seeing that something is done about them?
Mr Thomas Steele: Mr. Thomas Steele (Dunbartonshire, West) rose—
Mr Thomas Steele: Will the hon. Gentleman continue his comparisons and compare what is given to the railways with what is given to the aircraft industry, as indicated today by the Minister of Aviation, and also given to the farming community, without any means test at all?
Mr Thomas Steele: I was very interested in the concluding remarks of the hon. Member for Abingdon (Mr. Neave), when he was dealing with freight traffic. I think that all of us would like to see much of the traffic on the roads put back on to the railways. But, living as I do on the main A.74, and watching the traffic on that road in particular, I am concerned about how Dr. Beaching will be able to achieve it,...
Mr Thomas Steele: I am disappointed. It chat is the case, and we do not get a reply tonight, perhaps we shall receive a letter later. The Report is not all gloom and despair. There are clear indications that the work in progress on modernisation is already bringing results. I am very happy that that is so. Paragraph 300 contains encouraging figures showing the increase in revenue following the introduction of...
Mr Thomas Steele: Before a bus stop can be moved one has to go to the Ministry of Transport regional officer. Then the chief constable and the local authority and all kinds of people descend on one and there have to be inquiries. I have had experience of this sort of thing. It is the most difficult thing in the world to move a bus stop. I do not want to pursue this point now. I can have a conversation with...