Mr Thomas Torney: Will the Minister institute an inquiry into security arrangements not only at Rehindahlen but at British defence establishments throughout West Germany? I know from personal experience that it is simple to walk into these establishments. Is the Minister aware that German personnel used to be used in security in some of these establishments? Are they still used, and will the Minister look into...
Mr Thomas Torney: asked the Paymaster General how many new jobs he estimates have been created by the deregulation contained in the Wages Act.
Mr Thomas Torney: In view of that answer, is the Minister prepared to tell the Chancellor of the Exchequer to eat his words, introducing the last Budget, when he said that "lower wages mean more jobs"? Does he agree that the real reason for the Wages Act was to cut the wages of the lowest paid workers in order to increase the profits of friends of the Tory party who contribute huge sums to Tory party funds?
Mr Thomas Torney: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of national consumption of dairy products is met by domestic production.
Mr Thomas Torney: Why did we have 269,000 tonnes of United Kingdom butter in intervention in August 1986—a 33 per cent. increase on the previous six months? Why do we still import some 70,000 tonnes of butter from fellow EEC countries when we are cutting milk production in Britain?
Mr Thomas Torney: What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that British sheep farmers are compensated for the sheep that were stolen or damaged when they were taken across to France? Will he ensure that France pays that compensation to British farmers? Will he take retaliatory action if that sort of thing is continued by the French?
Mr Thomas Torney: I draw attention to the effect on the poultry industry of our agreeing to the levy. The Government have failed to fight hard enough for the needs of the poultry sector, which uses a tremendous amount of our cereal production. The Minister led the poultry industry to believe that there would be total exemption from the levy, but that will not happen in practice. The legislation is bad...
Mr Thomas Torney: On the points raised earlier about the prayer against the co-responsibility levy for cereals, is the Leader of the House aware that that matter seriously affects the poultry industry and can cause considerable unemployment? From the Opposition Benches, I appeal to the Leader of the House to find time to debate the issue before prorogation.
Mr Thomas Torney: Will the Minister instruct Ministry scientists to research into whether the future offspring of lambs born during the Chernobyl disaster could be infected with caesium? The House should remember that caesium has a 14 year half-life.
Mr Thomas Torney: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that takeovers usually mean unemployment for workers in the company taken over? Will he therefore consider making representations to try to ensure that workers do not lose jobs, especially in view of the tremendous workless total in this country?
Mr Thomas Torney: I have a list of members of the retail food trades wages council, and it is clear that the hon. Gentleman does not understand how wages councils are formulated. Their membership is not restricted to university professors or academics. Trade union officials and trade union members sit on wages councils, as do representatives of employers. They try to thrash out a settlement. I appreciate that...
Mr Thomas Torney: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Mr Thomas Torney: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I apologise. I must first declare an interest. I am sponsored by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. I must say in passing that I was astounded at the apparent lack of knowledge of some Conservative Members about the way in which wages council orders work and how they tick. I should be happy to explain how they work to the appropriate...
Mr Thomas Torney: Which part?
Mr Thomas Torney: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the European Economic Community Council to condemn any United States military aid to the Contras in Nicaragua.
Mr Thomas Torney: Is the Under-Secretary of State aware that Congress is likely to approve military aid to the Contra forces? Does he agree that that is contrary to international law? What does his colleague the Foreign Secretary propose to do about it?
Mr Thomas Torney: I declare an interest as a Member sponsored by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. For many years before I became a Member, I worked as a full-time officer with that union. The Home Secretary was magnanimous in promising a free vote in Committee if the Bill is passed tonight, which I hope will not happen. A free vote would not be worth anything if the Government Whips...
Mr Thomas Torney: My trade union, and certainly the Labour party, recognises the illogicalities of the present legislation relating to shop hours. However, the Labour Government never introduced a Bill of complete deregulation. Therefore, I pass the responsibility back to the Government, where it rightly belongs. They have introduced a Bill of complete deregulation. If they wish to move away from it, they must...
Mr Thomas Torney: Will the Minister tell the House whether the Commission's discussions on the outgoers scheme covered the workers in the farming, dairy distributive and processing industries? The workers in those industries have been made unemployed and creameries have been shut down. There is a great difference in redundancy payments for people who will probably never get another job because of the...
Mr Thomas Torney: Will the Minister consider instituting research into breadmaking wheat, so that it can be grown in Britain instead of being imported from abroad, and so reduce the massive surpluses of cereals in this country and in the Common Market generally?