Mr Jeffrey Thomas: What the right hon. Gentleman says may well be right. This is a matter which does not follow on the Question asked by his hon. Friend. It is an entirely different matter, and perhaps he will put down a specific Question.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Will the hon. and learned Gentleman tell us how many bail hostels are available at the moment and how many are planned throughout the country in the next twelve months?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Having regard to the fact that 24 per cent. of the unemployed in Wales are to be found in Monmouthshire, and particularly having regard to the fact that of those unemployed 48 per cent. are to be found in North Monmouthshire, would not the Minister agree tonight to take drastic and immediate action to alleviate this disgraceful situation? Furthermore, would the Minister give an undertaking...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the time has come to stop tinkering round the edges of the problem, which is all that the Government have so far done in Wales? Does not he take the view that we must now have a crash programme for employment in Wales?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Will my hon. Friend give way?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Does he suggest that the Treaty of Rome does not preclude this Government from taking a decision against the wishes of the rest of the Community members? What does he think the European Court is for? It is to resolve disputes. It speaks for itself.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Having regard to the content of his speech, I am glad to be able to follow the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, East (Mr. Wolrige-Gordon), though I hope he will forgive me if I do not take up his line of argument in what I have to say. I am grateful to you Mr. Speaker, for having called me. It shows that everything comes to him who waits, and, if waiting is a virtue, then even in this place...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: One of the features of the debate, if not the only common denominator between the antis and the pros, is the belief that even if there are economic advantages in joining the Six they are marginal, ill-defined and unquantifiable. I am anxious not to erect barriers which will preclude us from worldwide markets. That is the answer to those who ask what is the alternative to going into the Six....
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Reluctant though I usually am to agree with the hon. Member for Barry (Mr. Gower) I must on this occasion do so. In my view, this is a typical piece of mean Pecksniffery on the part of the Government. These people are in a special category, they are all on their own, and in the circumstances special provision should be made for them.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: The real difficulty when somebody is in unlawful possession of an article is in proving the intention of the person in relation to its use. This is why the words were used in that particular place in the provision.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: The Clause as it now stands represents in our view a serious and far-reaching encroachment of individual liberty. If these Clauses had been introduced by a Labour Administration the dogs of war would have been unleashed and we should have been the victims of the kind of Press attack normally reserved for child beaters and abductors of orphans. It is indicative of a wholly new concept of law...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I entirely agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, Central (Mr. Clinton Davis). The cause of our anxieties was illustrated by the Under-Secretary's example of the spanner, of the man who in his own home is in possession of a spanner with intent eventually to use it to cause enormous damage to property. In this event, the situation is more than adequately covered. I could not imagine...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: asked the Secretary of State for Wales on what dates officials of the Welsh Office have visited Brussels; and what are the names of the members of the Commission, of the Council of Ministers, and of the officials of the European Economic Community with whom they held discussions.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: What assurances were sought by the Welsh Office officials during their visit? What undertaking or assurances were given about regional policies? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman order his officials to prepare and publish a report at the earliest moment?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: asked the Attorney-General if he will now take steps to cause St. David's Day to be designated a Red Letter Day.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Is the hon. Gentleman aware that that answer will cause great disappointment to thousands of people in Wales? Would he not agree that the time has come to stop this discrimination between Scotland—St. Andrew being the saint whose day is marked with a Red Letter—and Wales? Would he also agree that it would be a suitable tribute now to designate St. David's Day a Red Letter Day having...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I, too, was somewhat startled to hear that the Minister regarded this Measure, to some extent at any rate, as the redemption of an election pledge. I am sure that that was a slip of the tongue. On the basis that it was, my hon. Friends and I cannot reach a consensus that the measure is to be welcomed. I rise to make two short points. The first concerns the sentence of 10 years. In my view,...
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: A few moments ago I understood the hon. Gentleman to be underlining the great divide between the two sides. Is he now saying that there is a firm consensus between the two sides? I think he should make clear what he is saying.
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: Will the hon. and gallant Gentleman tell us where he was when the land was nationalised, and if he was in the House whether he completely misunderstood what was happening?
Mr Jeffrey Thomas: I take the point that he never had a chance, because he was given the wrong vehicle with which to travel along the road. There is agreement that the objectives of the Board are desirable. Before I entered this House I told Mr. Cowen that I did not believe that the organisation was one which could succeed. He was faced with an almost insoluble problem. The right hon. Member for Anglesey is a...
