Mr Eustace Willis: We have just had an example of a university lecturer's approach to a specific problem.
Mr Eustace Willis: That makes it even worse. If that is the way a university professor applies his mind to a specific proposition, heaven help us. It is no wonder that people hold up their hands at university professors and we get the woolly emanations that we do from a number of these gentlemen. Nine-tenths of the hon. Member's speech did not relate to the proposition concerning the date. Nine-tenths of his...
Mr Eustace Willis: This was in the Labour Party election manifesto in 1966 and in 1964, when we swept the Tories out of power in Scotland. The hon. Member ought to be praising my right hon. Friend for keeping the promise he made to the electorate, not criticising him. Hon. Members opposite are apt to say that a proposal has not been in election addresses, but this was in our election programme.
Mr Eustace Willis: We are discussing this matter contained in the Amendment. I am prepared to discuss other matters at the appropriate time. I am prepared to discuss anything with hon. Members opposite for they are so easy to meet and beat. We have had approval for this proposal. Why should we wait for another election? Hon. Members opposite have put forward an Amendment referring to a two-year period because...
Mr Eustace Willis: I was saying that when the change takes place this is what will happen. In non-fee-paying schools we are always changing particular uses and the channels through which children obtain their education. This takes place all the time and I should have thought that it would appeal to the hon. Member for Pollok. In Edinburgh, such-and-such a school has its purpose changed and different children go...
Mr Eustace Willis: Yes, when he is not running the Glasgow Herald.
Mr Eustace Willis: I thought that the hon. Member was spending his time in the offices of the Glasgow Herald. Obviously, he is getting out of touch with his profession and ought to go back to it to get more in touch. The date in this Amendment is a much better one than that in the Tory Amendment, because it would mean that we would keep our promise. It would also mean that Edinburgh and Glasgow Corporations...
Mr Eustace Willis: This is nothing to do with the Amendment.
Mr Eustace Willis: rose—
Mr Eustace Willis: Rubbish.
Mr Eustace Willis: And we have no guarantee that the Government will accept the recommendations of the Wheatley Committee.
Mr Eustace Willis: They considered it so seriously that 30 per cent. of them did not even bother to vote.
Mr Eustace Willis: Further to that point of order. Surely it is in order for my hon. Friend to argue that he will be relieved that in August, 1970, this pressure on Midlothian will be removed?
Mr Eustace Willis: Thank goodness.
Mr Eustace Willis: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May we have your guidance on what is in order under this Amendment? All we are asked to discuss is whether there should be an obligation on the Secretary of State to make regulations defining several categories of pupils, and to make special regulations, or whether it should be left to the Secretary of State. Instead of this we are getting one of...
Mr Eustace Willis: I was always engaged in an argument of substance, and I always kept strictly to the point.
Mr Eustace Willis: From the figures that my hon. Friend has just given about unemployment—and he always documents his case admirably—the argument of the hon. Member for South Angus, who has now disappeared, that the only reason why the Scottish unemployment figure is 1·5 per cent. higher than the English is because there are more unemployed in England is complete nonsense.
Mr Eustace Willis: The hon. Member for Gillingham (Mr. Burden) referred to the increasing use of completed spares in the repair and refit of ships. At a time when the size of the Royal Navy has been reduced and when the process of refitting is becoming a matter of replacing certain parts of equipment with completed parts, I find it difficult to justify the continued maintenance of four dockyards. When we had a...
Mr Eustace Willis: It is not possible to commute from Rosyth to London so easily, and this is why Rosyth was allowed to be almost closed down between the wars. There is this attitude of mind that it is necessary to be near London. Is there not a case for closing down Chatham and expanding the dockyard in the hon. Lady's constituency, which is in an area which requires jobs? If we are serious about the policy of...
Mr Eustace Willis: I agree that £6 million is a lot of money, but we have spent many millions of pounds on the Polaris programme, which was not necessary either. When it comes to matters of defence, this argument does not carry a great deal of weight with me. We are spending large sums of money trying to spread industry into areas where it is needed. Sums larger than that are spent on attracting civilian...