Mr Sydney Tierney: I join my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) in thanking my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary for giving us the opportunity of having this debate. I have been involved with the Lucas corporate plan for about three and a half years. Like a number of other hon. Members, I have a Lucas Aerospace factory in my constituency. It is agreed on the Labour Benches that the Lucas Aerospace...
Mr Sydney Tierney: I wonder whether my hon. Friend could give us a glimmer of hope that at Wednesday's meeting the Government might take some initiative to get the company involved in a feasibility study.
Mr Sydney Tierney: I was loth to intervene in the good-natured debate, but now that the disruption has taken place I hope that the promoters will agree to the suggestion of the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Hooson) and withdraw clause 39. That would he a happy ending to a good-natured and friendly debate. There are 131 clauses in the Bill. With my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South-West...
Mr Sydney Tierney: This has been an interesting debate, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I do not wish to comment, as the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, East (Mr. Henderson) has done, on the quality of the speeches, but I think that we have had something of a full dress rehearsal at the beginning of the debate, and no doubt the same will apply at the end of it. We had a debate yesterday on unemployment, and although the...
Mr Sydney Tierney: My right hon. Friend is also right to emphasise that we must secure our gains and build upon our successes. Therefore, he must not be surprised if the trade union movement, having studied the Government's measures proposed in the White Paper, expresses its disappointment at the lack of elbow room to build upon those successes. For three years we have had ad hoc policies on a year-to-year...
Mr Sydney Tierney: I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I am sure that he has made the point. Apart from wages councils, there is little doubt that some trade unions will in some instances have to negotiate voluntary agreements for £44·50. That may surprise some hon. Members. Paragraph 19 of the White Paper refers to respect for existing settlement dates. I hope that we shall be told whether the Government...
Mr Sydney Tierney: I think that there is some evidence from a number of sources that pharmacists have problems, particularly in meeting their commitments under the National Health Service. I am sure that most Members of Parliament will have received complaints from constituents about the availability of dispensing outlets. There is no doubt that they are declining in number. Nearly all hon. Members will have...
Mr Sydney Tierney: Pharmacists often have to rely on the success of their general trading to remain in business. This is the danger in the system. Pharmacists should not have to rely on general trading profitability. They should be able to make a living by providing a public service. A decline in the retail trade of chemist shops, because of competition or changes in shopping habits—I have in mind...
Mr Sydney Tierney: From my experience there are problems in the large dispensing outlets such as the Co-op and Boots. Because of the rates of pay and the anti-social hours they find it difficult to recruit qualified staff. I have represented such staff and have dealt with the problems. The difficulty of recruiting qualified staff sometimes leads to the closure of an outlet. The public are affected by that. In...
Mr Sydney Tierney: The subject of this debate is the future use of Silvermere School, Sheldon, which is in my constituency. Silver-mere School was originally a three-form entry secondary modern school. The school was closed about 10 years ago and it became an annexe to the Birmingham Teacher Training College. When the premises became surplus to the college's requirements, they were used temporarily to house the...
Mr Sydney Tierney: Some children cannot get into existing schools because of the squeezing-in process that would be necessary, and it would be very useful if some local children could get into the Silvermore School. The only excuses the parents have been given from the Birmingham authority are the administrative difficulties and the costing and charging out against the Birmingham pupil as opposed to the...
Mr Sydney Tierney: asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were killed in road accidents and how many road accidents there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr Sydney Tierney: Does my hon. Friend agree that those figures are disturbing? They appear to represent about double the average figure for the rest of the United Kingdom. What does my hon. Friend propose to do about this problem in a country where many other lives are lost unnecessarily?
Mr Sydney Tierney: I wish to oppose this Bill. At the outset I must say that the hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Neubert) has introduced what appears to be a simple piece of amending legislation aimed at dealing with what he calls an "anomaly" arising out of the 1950 Act. The Bill may sound simple in its presentation, but it is full of danger and is highly complicated in its practicability with regard to its...
Mr Sydney Tierney: The hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Lawson) described this Budget as a TUC Budget. My hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr. Atkinson) said that it was a consensus Budget. Certainly the Budget has had a number of descriptions, and if I were to give a description at all I would call it a family Budget. It helps all the family—grandparents, parents and children. We have also heard what has...
Mr Sydney Tierney: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the question of the registration of acupuncturists and the control of their premises. This is a subject of great public importance in the context of health and safety. First, I want to refer to the outbreak of viral hepatitis B, relating to the practice of acupuncture in the Birmingham area in the past few months. The area medical officer to the...
Mr Sydney Tierney: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If it is difficult to license practitioners, it seems that in the short term it will be easier, where there is legislation, to license the practice—the premises. I appeal for serious consideration to be given to activating this part of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act. I realise that this comes under the jurisdiction of another Department, but my hon....
Mr Sydney Tierney: rose—
Mr Sydney Tierney: I am not sure whether the right Minister is present. Perhaps we should have both Ministers here, one from the Department of Health and Social Services and another from the Department of Employment. I do not wish to become involved in the long argument about the medical people themselves. I hope that my hon. Friend will make a bit of a noise about the fact that existing law on the registration...
Mr Sydney Tierney: In my contribution I do not intend to try to cover all the facets of this debate, and far less do I want to attempt to give all the answers. The subject that I want to raise concerns the problems of the low-paid. It is a narrow subject, but I do not apologise for that because a large number of people in this country belong to the army of the low-paid. Over past years we have experienced...
