Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Bearing in mind the usual rules about the principle of equality under the law, will the Attorney-General advance any good reason why judges should not be subject to the usual retirement age rules?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Is the Secretary of State aware, particularly in view of his cheap and snide remarks earlier about my right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot), that if the plans go forward there will be in the Blaenau-Gwent area an escalation of unemployment from the present 17·1 per cent. to over 21 per cent.? Does he not agree that that would be totally unacceptable? What does he propose to...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does the Attorney-General agree that the present delays amount to a public scandal and a blot on the administration of justice? As the present measures are not working, how does he propose to tackle the situation? What is the average delay between committal and trial? Will be and his noble Friend bear in mind the principle that justice delayed is justice denied?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I beg to move amendment No. 6, in page 196, line 15, after Executive ', insert ', the National Freight Corporation (as far as included in this paragraph by paragraph 15(a) of Schedule 23 to this Act) '.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: My right hon. Friend the Member for Barrow-in Furness (Mr. Booth), in whose name these two amendments stand, has uncovered an anomaly. Before proceeding, may I say how grateful I am to the Solicitor-General for his kind remarks at the beginning of the debate? Unless these amendments are accepted the National Freight Corporation, almost alone of statutory undertakings, would be liable to make...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: We welcome the fact that at last the Attorney-General has seen fit to make a statement on jury checking or vetting—better late than never. However, we take issue with him on a number of matters. The statement gives cause for concern. An opportunity has been lost properly to look again at the guidelines introduced by my right hon. and learned Friend the former Attorney-General. In a...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: May I finally put four brief questions to the Attorney-General? Does he agree that the fact that we have majority verdicts in this country provides an effective check and balance to cope with any maverick or unsuitable juror? The Juries Act 1974 sets out those who are disqualified to serve on juries. Secondly if that list is not wide enough, should it not be put to the House to decide what,...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I congratulate the Solicitor-General on his brevity. I associate myself and the Opposition with his remarks, and in particular with those relating to the work of the Joint Committee. We owe it a great debt of gratitude and thank it very much indeed.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: How many more police officers will be investigated by the Operation Countryman team? Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that any attempt to truncate the inquiries will be seen as an attempt at a cover-up?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does the hon. and learned Gentleman agree that the delay amounts to a public scandal and a blot on the administration of justice? How big is the present backlog in courts on the South-Eastern circuit? What is the average delay between committal and trial? Will he and his noble Friend bear in mind the principle that justice delayed is justice denied?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Is the Attorney-General aware of reports that the team under Commander Cass, which investigated the circumstances of the death of Blair Peach, was anxious—
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: In those circumstances, Mr. Speaker, I do not pursue the matter.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: The Opposition have no objection, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In fact, we welcome that course.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: We on the Labour side give a general welcome to the Bill, with the caveat that it does not go far enough. As welcome as the amendments made in another place may be, and they certainly strengthen the Bill, we regret that the Lords did not take their courage in both hands and go just a little further. What obtained in the earlier stages of the Bill still, we believe, obtains today in spite of...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I take the right hon. Gentleman's point. I hope that it will be a deterrent to some extent. In terms of practice, and in terms of American legislation, provided that the Americans take steps of the sort that I anticipated in by speech on Third Reading, I do not think that the clause will help a great deal. That is what concerns me. In short, the Government are willing to strike, but not to...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: When he next sees the DPP will the Attorney-General ask the Director to explain the preposterous situation where not a single interview was ordered with any of the 300 directors of Shell and BP, named in the Bingham report annex, on evidence of criminal involvement? Will the Attorney General also take this opportunity to explain to the House why when he informed me on 9 November last year...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: In view of some of the interventions of the Attorney-General's hon. Friends, and some of the wilder press stories today, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman make it absolutely plain that it would be constitutionally obnoxious, and a disaster for industrial relations, if his statement were to be taken as encouraging chief constables to crack down on those exercising the right to picket?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: It is in some ways unfortunate, but perhaps in more ways fortunate, that the subject matter of this Adjournment debate should have been touched on in the main debate today. I shall, of course, try not to cover ground already covered by my right hon. and hon. Friends, but if I do my apology will be muted, for the future of the coal industry in South Wales in the wake of the British Steel...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Having regard to the second thoughts that the Solicitor-General is now having about this matter, will he have second thoughts about his answer to me yesterday, in which he made the most disgraceful and disparaging aspersions about the value of The Times Law Reports?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does the Solicitor-General agree that many people fear that Lord Denning's judgment, which was made at the weekend, has hardly helped the matter? Many people also fear that that judgment will provide more explosive material in an already dangerous minefield. Lord Denning has made the law even more uncertain, and he is therefore bringing the law, and the rule of law, into disrepute. Will the...
