Miss Joan Vickers: There are now 21 councils that already give this service free. What will happen to them if the Bill is passed?
Miss Joan Vickers: At the recent WEU meeting, I asked M. Debré, the French Minister of Defence, whether he would have further consultations with the new Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and he definitely turned me down. Can my right hon. Friend reopen those negotiations?
Miss Joan Vickers: When does the EEC intend to set up a Foreign Affairs secretariat?
Miss Joan Vickers: I am glad to be called to speak after the hon. Member for Portsmouth, West (Mr. Judd), since we both represent dockyard towns, but I dissociate myself from his final remarks. He had made an excellent speech until the last few minutes. Since this is a short debate I shall concentrate on two points. The first concerns HMS "Albion". Is it to be scrapped or not? When it is converted into a...
Miss Joan Vickers: When I said that, I was quoting some words of my own Minister.
Miss Joan Vickers: I was interested to hear the remarks made by the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Hooson) but I am not certain that I agreed with all he said. I wish to place on record my disagreement with the right hon. Member for Kettering (Sir G. de Freitas). I believe that it would be a great pity if Greece were not in NATO and that it would leave the Turks very vulnerable. I hope that the...
Miss Joan Vickers: As my right hon. Friend mentioned war widows, may I ask what has been done for war widows who were widowed before 1950?
Miss Joan Vickers: I agree with much of what the hon. Member for Bristol, South (Mr. Michael Cocks) said. But I want to raise two other, different points. The hon. Member spoke of people being absent on business. I cannot understand why people cannot have the vote when they are on holiday. People take holidays all the year round now. Such people are not in a special category. Over 7 million people are taking...
Miss Joan Vickers: What about the holiday maker? Will that aspect of the matter be dealt with?
Miss Joan Vickers: I hope that the hon. Member for Southall (Mr. Bidwell) will forgive me if I do not take up any of his points. Instead I wish to raise one specific matter related to au pairs and domestic workers. For a number of years I have been trying to establish some real organisation of these girls. I have been trying to get the Government to sign the European Convention on au pairs which would give...
Miss Joan Vickers: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Perth and East Perthshire (Mr. MacArthur) on his excellent Bill. I was a little surprised to hear the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galbraith). He seems to think that Scottish people are more permissive than those in England and must be more protected. I do not think that will go down well with women in Scotland.
Miss Joan Vickers: That was the impression given by my hon. Friend, but if he is contradicting me I am glad to hear it. I should like to thank Lord Justice Scarman who has done so much, and given up so much of his time, to try to make us realise how people can become happier if some laws are changed. Only last year he came to a conference which I organised at Church House to help with matrimonial...
Miss Joan Vickers: I am pleased to support the Bill because I supported the Bill of the hon. Member for Putney (Mr. Hugh Jenkins) and went through quite a lot of the Bill's struggles with him. I am sorry that we have not ratified the ILO Convention. It is interesting, and perhaps we will bear this in mind, that no English-speaking country has ratified that convention. That is a pity. I agree with the hon....
Miss Joan Vickers: I thank my hon. Friend. But the necessity for qualifications is still very desirable. Another example is provided by an agency in Glasgow which has a connection with an agency in New York, which sends the girls over here. Where is the control to be in such cases? I have taken this point up with the Department, and I think my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State knows about it. It is...
Miss Joan Vickers: I am very glad to hear that, but the Bill does not make it clear. With regard to organisations to which the Bill does not apply, I understand the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West, and I should like provision to be made, and perhaps it can be made later, for them also to be inspected. Inspection will otherwise be difficult. Can we not find words suitable for this...
Miss Joan Vickers: Are women who have married and who have children not grown up?
Miss Joan Vickers: I should like to remind my hon. and learned Friend that he said the same thing about attachment of earnings, and that that has now led to legislation. He also said the same thing about guardianship, and that matter is being dealt with in the House of Lords.
Miss Joan Vickers: In view of the very important recommendations in the Report of the Departmental Committee on the Adoption of Children—the Houghton Report—may I ask my right hon. Friend whether we are to have a debate on this in the near future?
Miss Joan Vickers: Has there been an increase or a decrease in the number of women using this valuable service over recent years?
Miss Joan Vickers: I should like to ask my right hon. Friend a question about Order No. 1582, dealing with schools. I notice that the order says, This Order may be cited as the European Communities (European Schools) Order 1972". The note below merely refers to the school in Luxembourg, but others have been set up previously. Will they come under the order? I refer in particular to the International Lycée,...