Mr Frederick Willey: I am anxious to speak, for two reasons. First, we had a deputation from Tyne and Wear this afternoon. Many friends of mine were there. Secondly, I have made representations with deputations from the Sunderland War for Work board. This is important. This is not only an industrial problem; it is a social problem. We in Sunderland are now in the position that we were in in the early 1930s. We...
Mr Frederick Willey: We very much appreciate the aid that was given by the Government—whom we met some months ago—for the Ethiopian orders. However, can the hon. Gentleman say whether any progress has been made on the Mexican orders, which are crucial to Sunderland shipbuilders?
Mr Frederick Willey: I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I regret to hear that illness has prevented the hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter) being here. We all wish him a speedy recovery.
Mr Frederick Willey: The Minister spoke about a deep recession. My hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven (Dr. Cunningham) talked about a crisis. It is not only a crisis, but it is a crisis that has got far worse since we began our discussion of the Bill. We can be fraternal and say that world shipbuilding is suffering a crisis. We can be fraternal and say that Europe is suffering a crisis. We can read about what...
Mr Frederick Willey: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Mr Frederick Willey: This is partly an enabling Bill and partly grease to help privatisation. In that regard it is generally unacceptable, but an amendment was accepted in Committee that is both important and relevant to this debate. It provided some guidelines to the national interest. The Government withdrew their proposals and accepted section 4 of the 1977 Act, as it stood, which provides that full regard...
Mr Frederick Willey: I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman. My point was that his colleagues criticised those provisions in Committee. The Government must advise us about this matter. They have had experience during the past few years of running annual corporate plans—not very successfully—and they should decide about any revisions. That is why I made no revisions.
Mr Frederick Willey: I share the feelings of the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Nelson). Is the Minister aware that the lack of effective consultation and consideration of financial matters overall means that Sunderland Shipbuilders has been savaged and that the heavy redundancies it is now suffering will increase? That is in a town which is already spending £2 million a week on unemployment benefit. When I...
Mr Frederick Willey: Has my hon. Friend received or sought any representations from the National Consumer Council?
Mr Frederick Willey: My hon. Friend would have been wise to have done so.
Mr Frederick Willey: It is not my hon. Friend's judgment.
Mr Frederick Willey: I introduced the Supply of Goods and Services Bill last Session. It received the support of both Houses and is now an Act. I support whatever the Minister of State has to say. He should realise that I was not generally supported in bringing forward legislation to implement Service Please. the proposal did not receive unanimous support from the various consumer bodies until the Bill was...
Mr Frederick Willey: Is the Leader of the House aware that the loss of the shipyard order is a loss to a yard in my constituency? I raised this with the Minister of State yesterday and he undertook to make a statement in the Standing Committee this morning, but he was not afforded the opportunity to do so. Is the Leader of the House aware that this matter is causing real anxiety in Sunderland and that we expect...
Mr Frederick Willey: I am glad to follow the hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr. Trotter), as we both represent parts of the North-East. He will no doubt agree with me that in form the Bill is objectionable and unsatisfactory. In substance, depending on how it is treated, it can be either a triviality that is alien to present circumstances, or a serious threat to the industry. From what the Minister has said, it seems...
Mr Frederick Willey: I agree with my right hon. Friend I have great respect for ECGD. It has done a good job and has responded in the past to appeals made by British shipbuilding. Nevertheless I agree with my hon. Friend that we must learn from these experiences and learn quickly. We need a national interest in British shipbuilding. I use those words not in the cynical way in which they appear in the Bill but in...
Mr Frederick Willey: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. This is a useful measure of consumer protection, and I am grateful to the House for assuring its speedy progress on to the statute book. I want especially to thank the Ministers—the present Minister and his predecessor—for their help to me in getting the Bill right. I want also to thank the Department, which has also helped to get...
Mr Frederick Willey: I am grateful to the Minister. This is a simplification. It takes us back to our earlier thoughts on the Bill and makes it more intelligible.
Mr Frederick Willey: I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) for putting the case so clearly to the Minister. It seems that the concern is about product liability, not about the Bill. The Pharmaceutical Society has made representations on consultation, but in this instance we are dealing with the Law Commission's report. There was thorough and full consultation on the Bill. If these...
Mr Frederick Willey: I enjoyed the speech of the Solicitor-General for Scotland. It was perhaps rather long because he is not very enthusiastic about his case. He made all the points that he could make in its favour, but I got the impression that he personally was not too convinced of it. This is not a revolutionary or an innovatory Bill. I am seeking to make a declaratory codification, and it was for that...
Mr Frederick Willey: I agree that we have had every assistance from the Department, but there is one thing that I do not understand. We get a report from the English Law Commission, and no action whatever is taken in Scotland. I should have thought that there would be immediate action once the English Law Commission had made its report.