Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Has the Minister considered the adverse effect of the latest outbreak of arson on the part of nationalists in Wales on the future of tourism in Wales and the fact that many tourists will be put off coming to Wales? What does he propose to do about it?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I venture to think that no hon. Member will quarrel with the bald statement of fact that housing and the problems stemming from it represent the greatest social problem of our time. In our view, the Bill comes nowhere near meeting the challenge of those problems. In many respects it aggravates and exacerbates the very problems that it purports to amend. The Bill has been described in various...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I join forces, for once, with the hon. Member for Tiverton (Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop), whose remarks go to the root of the problem and to the root of our fears on the Opposition side of the House. The rule of law is indivisible. The rule of law applies as much in this country as it does overseas. It is wrong for the Government party to be seen to be paying mere lip service to the rule of law. Will...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: The Bill is the culmination of almost 30 years of what has unhappily become intense bitterness about United States enforcement of legal controls over commerce outside that country. On both sides of the House there has been considerable concern about the intrusion of American anti-trust procedures in international shipping, aviation and, in particular, uranium trading. The defences erected...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: We are worried about the position where a company takes advantage of the clause and goes, for instance, to Hong Kong or the West Indies and is able to take advantage of the legislation. We are concerned that American companies, under the clause as drafted, could operate in this country through subsidiary companies and slip through the net. A coach and horses would be driven through the main...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I understand fully the sensitivities. I understand the apprehensions of the Government about offending our American friends. I share those misgivings and apprehensions as far as they go. However, having been attacked about the Bill, why do not the Government have the courage to say "We may as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb"?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I am extremely grateful to the Secretary of State for agreeing with the argument advanced by the Opposition in Committee. It seemed to us an important—inded, crucial—matter. It only goes to show that if one nags long enough and loud enough and persists long enough—indeed, one may even be right—one wins in the end.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I hope that the Secretary of State will not be churlish, having given us so much, if I criticise him in some respects. My object in putting forward the amendment as I did in Committee and, indeed, in seeking to make the points that I made on Second Reading was to ensure that clause 6 would be an enforceable clause and, therefore, a practical matter of law. In that context, I welcome what the...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: This has been an interesting and thoughtful debate on a matter that has become of increasing public importance. I look forward to hon. Members developing their arguments when we reach the Committee stage. It has to be said at once that this is a wholly exceptional Bill to meet wholly exceptional circumstances. Clauses 5 and 6 are not only exceptional and far-reaching in their nature and...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that the present state of the law amounts to a real containment of the right to free expression? Is he aware that television companies and newspapers are muzzled and intimidated by the vagaries of the law of contempt, the chief evil of which is its uncertainty? Finally, does he agree that the spirit of the European Court's judgment in The Sunday...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: On a more practical note, does not the hon. and learned Gentleman agree with the recommendations of the National Consumer Protection Council that supermarkets should be required by law to have an area where customers may leave their own shopping bags on arriving at the store and that it should also be mandatory for stores to provide receipts?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: In view of the clear strictures of Lord Justice Lawton on the use by the Crown of "supergrasses", does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that immunity from criminal process should be granted only in the most exceptional cases and should never appear to be tantamount to a bribe?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Is the Secretary of State aware of the need for massive investment in the South Wales coalfield in order to avoid closures? What plans has he in that respect?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does my hon. Friend also agree—I do not for a moment underestimate the problem—that the position would be immeasurably better throughout the whole of Wales if local authorities in Wales spent all the money that has been made available for housing?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I am conscious of the pressures of time and will try to be brief. I hope that the hon. Member for Cardigan (Mr. Howells) will forgive me if I do not follow the themes of his speech. I wish to deal first with industrial development certificates. The restriction of IDCs is vital to the future of the economy in Wales and I cannot help feeling that there has been an erosion in the Government's...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does my right hon. Friend realise that the people of Gwent and of North Gwent in particular are extremely grateful for his announcement on Monday? It will in due time provide much-needed jobs in the area.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I begin with a comment on the speech of the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Edwards). No one could fail to hear it. He assailed our ears, if not our minds. It was the usual barn-storming speech of the kind that we have come to expect from him. When he was not being offensive, he was being hysterical, and, when he was being neither offensive nor hysterical, he was inaccurate and full of sound...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: In view of the astonishing scenes taking place in the Strangers Gallery and the behaviour of people speaking the Welsh language, will the hon. Gentleman take this opportunity to condemn behaviour of that kind?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: rose—
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: rose—
