Mr Winston Churchill: Before taking what I hope is only a temporary leave of the House, may I, on behalf of my Manchester constituents, thank my right hon. Friend and the Government for making the United Kingdom the best functioning economy in all of Europe, with half the levels of unemployment of France or Germany? Is it not precisely because those two countries have not had the benefit of a Thatcher-Major...
Mr Winston Churchill: I rise briefly to support my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Mr. Shaw). As he pointed out, about one third of all investment in this country is financed by lease financing. That has formed a key part of the prosperity that has been generated in recent years under this Government. The thing that concerns me particularly about this aspect of the Finance Bill is that it would appear that the...
Mr Winston Churchill: When the Gadarene swine are in full cry, is it appropriate to adopt a wait-and-see policy? Is it not about time we jettisoned that policy and campaigned against a single European currency, which is against the interests of the United Kingdom and against the interests of the European Union as a whole? Is it not significant that the country that claims to be most in favour of a single...
Mr Winston Churchill: I join in the congratulations already offered to my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel (Sir M. Marshall) on bringing this matter before the House and giving us the opportunity to debate it. I am particularly delighted that the Minister for the Armed Forces is here to respond, because I know of his instinctive sympathy for those who serve their country in circumstances of difficulty and...
Mr Winston Churchill: By their nature, war disability pensioners are a declining band. Was it really necessary, therefore, for the Government to deprive them of that to which they would have been entitled this year and in the years ahead? Will my hon. Friend clarify exactly when the measures that were announced on 5 December will be implemented? I have already received a significant number of disturbing letters...
Mr Winston Churchill: When is it being implemented?
Mr Winston Churchill: It is a matter of great regret that the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) has such a love affair with the sound of his own voice that he rabbited on for some 32 minutes and crowded out two of my hon. Friends. In opening the debate, the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Bradley) told us that it is not the intention of new Labour to renationalise the rail industry. Why on earth...
Mr Winston Churchill: What about the M6?
Mr Winston Churchill: Is the hon. Gentleman seriously harking back to the bad old days when politicians and bureaucrats played trains and ran other commercial organisations? Does new Labour believe that the state can operate commercial organisations better than the entrepreneur?
Mr Winston Churchill: Is the hon. Gentleman seriously telling the House and the nation that if by mischance Labour was elected to govern, it would put the clock back to the state of affairs that prevailed before, when politicians were in the driving seat? It was absolutely disastrous for British Rail and all the other nationalised industries to be run politically and bureaucratically.
Mr Winston Churchill: Is my hon. Friend aware that from the Euro freight railhead at Trafford Park in my Manchester constituency, seven freight trains per night leave for Europe and come back from Europe? That relieves the motorway network of many hundreds of container lorries per night.
Mr Winston Churchill: What evidence does my right hon. and learned Friend have in respect of his reply to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Ross)? What figures does he have at his disposal to show that legally held weapons have been used in the commission of armed crime? What are the statistics? Furthermore, bearing in mind the fact that the overwhelming majority of people who own firearms legally are...
Mr Winston Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about British forces in Bosnia beyond the end of 1996. [355]
Mr Winston Churchill: Does my right hon. Friend agree that IFOR has proved to be a powerful demonstration of NATO effectiveness, and that a key ingredient of its success has been the full participation of United States forces? Does he further agree that all the efforts made by our Government, our service men and women and our allies in the past four years would come to nothing if the United States does not extend...
Mr Winston Churchill: It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Motherwell, North (Dr. Reid)—who speaks on behalf of Her Majesty's Opposition, and long may he continue to do so—but I do not know where he has been in terms of visiting Her Majesty's forces if he thinks that they lack a sense of pride and purpose. I defy anyone who has visited the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force...
Mr Winston Churchill: The hon. Gentleman now qualifies that by saying that he will seek a consensus within his party. He will have an uphill struggle because on the matter of defence, and above all on nuclear defence, his party is split from top to bottom, no matter how hard the Leader of the Opposition may try to paper over the chasm. I warmly welcome the announcement of the appointment of General Sir Charles...
Mr Winston Churchill: Given the massive scale of social security fraud, when will the Government introduce a national system of workfare for all able-bodied unemployed so as to guarantee them an income while at the same time smoking out those who make multiple fraudulent claims or who are already employed but also drawing benefit?
Mr Winston Churchill: My right hon. Friend spoke about the costs of ownership of armed forces' houses, but how far have the Government truly considered the cost of the proposed lease-back scheme? My right hon. Friend will be aware that over the past five years, comparative rents in the private sector have been increasing three times as fast as the cost of living. What will be the impact on the public finances at...
Mr Winston Churchill: Of course they have.
Mr Winston Churchill: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?