Mr John Timmons: I hope the House will show me the same kind and generous indulgence as it has shown to other hon. Members making their first speech in the House. In listening to the criticisms and attacks that have been made on the Government for their housing policy during the last three months, I felt that hon. Members opposite were stretching the matter too far. I have been a member of a local authority...
Mr John Timmons: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he can make any statement about the emergency houses in Lanarkshire and particularly Bellshill; and can he also give details of the cost of trying to make these houses habitable.
Mr John Timmons: Does the Minister still persist in going ahead with houses which, in the opinion of the experts, can never be habitable?
Mr John Timmons: Is the Minister aware that his statement will give some satisfaction to the tenants of these houses who have been subject to intolerable delays by previous administrations, and will he bear in mind the urgency of the compensation question?
Mr John Timmons: asked the Minister of Health, in view of the heavy financial burdens placed on local authorities, when he will be able to declare the Government's financial policy in relation to housing.
Mr John Timmons: asked the Minister of Labour in view of the shortage of nurses, if he will now consider granting immediate release to young women in the Forces who are willing to train for the nursing profession.
Mr John Timmons: asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what has been the reduction in the consumption of electricity for industrial purposes in Lanarkshire and the reduction in the consumption of gas for the same purpose during the past six months, respectively.
Mr John Timmons: asked the Minister of Labour if he will state the number of unemployed in the Bellshill, Uddingston and Baillieston districts; and the percentage that figure is of the insurable population.
Mr John Timmons: asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the heavy unemployment in the Western Isles, and the need for action by all Government Departments, he will, as a matter of urgency, call a special conference of all Ministers concerned, with a view to taking immediate steps to alleviate this unemployment.
Mr John Timmons: I want to compliment my right hon. Friend on the progress he has made up to now, and, in doing that, I want to point out one or two factors which have been militating against a further increase in completed houses. I regret that the Minister of Works is not here—
Mr John Timmons: I remember that, in the last housing Debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Dumbartonshire (Mr. McKinlay) gave a word of advice to the hon. and right hon. Gentlemen on the Front Bench and said that, if they wanted to make progress in housing in Scotland, the first thing they would require to do would be to get rid of the Ministry of Works, lock, stock and barrel. My own experience, over a...
Mr John Timmons: I remember that in the early part of this year a question was put by my hon. Friend the Member for Coat-bridge (Mrs. Mann) about the Weir factory. I understand that they were to be in production by June. A few months ago I visited that factory and there was no immediate likelihood of production. They told me that they would be producing up to 50 houses a week in September. It is now October...
Mr John Timmons: I am asking for information and the Under-Secretary of State ought to be able to inform me on these matters. No doubt I shall get the information I require when he speaks at the close of the Debate. I also want to know whether this firm is being financed by the Government, and to what extent. Can the Under-Secretary tell me what progress has been made with the Iron and Steel Confederation...
Mr John Timmons: Unlike most hon. Members on the other side of the House, I have spent all my life, since I was 12 years of age until June, 1945. in the mining industry. I do not like to hear my workmates being assailed in the fashion that we have heard on the Floor of the House tonight. When I look back to see what has taken place, and see what is taking place, I have also to remember that the state of the...
Mr John Timmons: I thought I had made that clear. I was kicked out because I was not prepared to give my technical ability to the employers. I gave it for the benefit of my workmates in the industry, and because I claimed justice for them, I was kicked out. There is one factor which has been overlooked during this Debate. I refer to the fact that 20 per cent. of the manpower is over 50 years of age. Those...
Mr John Timmons: No, generally, but coal is the lifeblood of this nation, and we have got to deal with first things first. If we have to help to stimulate production, we are at least entitled to give consideration to the problem of overtime and to the conditions under which these lads work overtime. It is quite a different thing working overtime in a spacious factory to working overtime in a pit. I do not...
Mr John Timmons: I do not intend to deal with the saving side but with the production side of the problem. In response to the oration of the right hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for Pembroke (Major Lloyd George), and since he referred to the fuel deficiencies and the savings he tried to effect, I will tell him that the serious allegations that have been made about deliberate waste are true. I know of a...
Mr John Timmons: asked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that large numbers of Lanarkshire girls are losing their unemployment benefit by refusing to leave home and go to England to work; and what steps he proposes to take to put a stop to this practice.
Mr John Timmons: Does the Minister consider that £2 15s. a week, which has been offered to these girls to live in Leeds and to pay for their board and their hostel accommodation, is an adequate amount for any girl to maintain herself on a decent standard; and is he further aware that there is a strong feeling in Lanarkshire that these girls are subject to direction, which does not apply in other parts of the...
Mr John Timmons: In view of the very unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I propose to raise the matter on the Adjournment