Mr Derek Walker-Smith: It is a privilege and pleasure for me to add a small word of appreciation to the felicitous speeches by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the eminent right hon. Members for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot) and for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Jenkins), who addressed us from the Opposition Benches. On 9 May 1979 you were elected Speaker following the proposal of myself, seconded by the right hon....
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I hope it will be for the comfort and relief of the House if I say straight away that I am not proposing to address the House by way of a speech on this matter. I rise solely on a simple matter of interrogation. Reference has been made by my hon. Friend the Minister to an explanatory memorandum. I may be unique in this regard, but I do not think so, and I have seen no such explanatory...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I have been around in this place for a little time and it is novel doctrine to me that Members are supposed, by some particular instinct, to know that they must scour the Library for documents in regard to legislation which is coming before the House.
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: My hon. Friend may be right. I have only been here for 11 Parliaments—and for the comfort of my hon. Friend I assure him that I shall not be here for many more. Quite seriously, though, I really do not think I am alone in believing that this is not a very satisfactory procedure. It would be much better to place these things in the Vote Office so that when hon. Members know that the matter...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: Reverting to the answer that my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham), will my right hon. Friend nevertheless consider before Friday the important matter that he raised so that, at the least, my right hon. Friend will listen to any representations that the hon. Gentleman makes with added receptivity?
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: Will the Heads of Government make it clear beyond peradventure at the meetings that the powers of the various institutions of the Community are expressly limited by article 4 of the treaty to those that are conferred by the treaty, and cannot be expanded without amendment of the treaty, with all the formalities that that requires?
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I was surprised to hear the right hon. Gentleman say that. I almost wondered whether he had read the Bill with his customary care. If effect were given to that proposal, the panel would be headed by a High Court judge. Surely the right hon. Gentleman is not suggesting that such a person would abuse the power to award costs.
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I congratulate the hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Allaun) on his good fortune in the ballot after so long a waiting period and on the good use that he has seen fit to make of it. I congratulate him, too, on the persuasive and moderate way in which he has put his case. I thank him most sincerely for his kind and characteristically overgenerous reference to me. Surprise has been expressed...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: As my hon. and learned Friend knows, my practice of the law does not make me a frequent attendant in the criminal courts where he practises with such expertise and acclaim. I can refer that matter of detailed mechanics for his opinion in Committee. When dealing with distortion, there is an element of suppressio veri just as much as suggestio falsi, and the suppression of a truth would come...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: The right hon. Gentleman in his usual colourful style made a reference to hon. Members lurking behind statues of Mr. Disraeli. Would he tell the House how many statues of Mr. Disraeli there are and where they are located?
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for the reasoned explanation that he recently gave me of the position of the Eastern Region Arts Association. Does he accept that I should be still more grateful if he could give sympathetic consideration to ameliorating its relatively disadvantageous position? Does he appreciate that this would bring great pleasure to the association and not least to its...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: What proportion of houses in the private sector are built in accordance with the requirements of the National House Building Council?
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: Does my right hon. Friend accept that in addition to the special position of the post-1966 entrants and their undoubted rights to rely on the continuance of the Luxembourg compromise, on the faith of which they adhered to the Community, there is also a substantial body of international legal opinion that believes that the Luxembourg compromise, although not enshrined in the treaty, is now...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his characteristic and customary courtesy in giving way. Paragraph 7c of the document refers to the British Government being willing, without prejudice, to include the question of sovereignty in negotiations with Argentina about the future of the Falkland Islands. Does that include the possibility of a reference to the International Court?
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: No— Sicklied o'er with the pale cost of thought
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: The House has been privileged to listen this afternoon to speeches of outstanding quality. It is, therefore, with a natural and proper sense of diffidence that I rise to add mine. Those who are fortunate enough to catch your eye, Mr. Speaker, during debates on this serious and important matter owe a special duty to make their contributions as constructive and responsible as possible. I shall...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I am coming to that point. With respect to my hon. and learned Friend, hon. Members making interventions often ask the Member who is addressing the House to deal with a point that he would come to in any event. The parties—Argentine and ourselves—sharing a common interest to make the reference, remain inactive in this regard. Their posture reminds me of the famous lines on the battle of...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: In earlier days I had the inestimable privilege of having my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hexham (Mr. Rippon) as my learned junior in cases, but the pupil soon overshot the master. Article 53 of the statute of the International Court states: Whenever one of the parties does not appear before the Court, or fails to defend its case, the other party may call upon the Court to...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I think not. Bearing in mind the passage of time and the cautionary words that I have given, if and in so far as my hon. Friend's point is relevant, it is the one to which I am coming. Early-day motion 429 asked the Government to make that request to the Security Council. I remind my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister that article 66 of the statute provides for representations to the court...
Mr Derek Walker-Smith: I am not in the witness box. My hon. Friend is not cross-examining me. If he tried his hand, he might have a little to learn. What I have suggested should be our second priority—second only to the withdrawal of Argentine troops in compliance with Security Council resolution 502. Of course, it is not the sole approach to a peaceful solution, given the withdrawal of troops. There remain the...