Hon. Adam Butler: May I first congratulate the security forces on their recent successes? They have had a very difficult time, particularly in recent months. Therefore, one or two of their recent actions are highly commendable. My right hon. Friend referred also to the achievements by the Garda. I wonder whether he can say anything further about the development of cross-border co-operation between the security...
Hon. Adam Butler: Will my right hon. Friend say a little more about the set-aside proposals? What form will they take, and when are decisions likely to be made? In particular, will my right hon. Friend accept that there should be a voluntary element in any scheme, whereby farmers with good land are able to participate just as well as those with poor land?
Hon. Adam Butler: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Hon. Adam Butler: As an advocate of the GEC case, the hon. Gentleman has made a remarkable statement. He has said that progress in the past nine months has been excellent, and I think that we are agreed about that, but he is implying that GEC knew the answers before that period and did nothing to produce them.
Hon. Adam Butler: Will my hon. and learned Friend give way?
Hon. Adam Butler: Does my right hon. Friend accept, from my experience as a Minister on the receiving end, that the Assembly did some valuable work in fulfilling its scrutinising role? Does he also agree that perhaps the main lesson from the demise of the Assembly is that if there are those who refuse to participate in the constitutional processes available to them, it serves only to give heart and...
Hon. Adam Butler: I am sure that my right hon. Friend argued the British case on the extradition treaty very strongly, but I want to emphasise the points that have already been made about the strength of feeling on this matter. Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the treaty were rejected by the Senate it would have immense consequences for the Anglo-American relationship, and, in view of the support that...
Hon. Adam Butler: Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Hon. Adam Butler: It is on a very important point.
Hon. Adam Butler: I apologise for intervening, but I wish to raise an important point. My right hon. Friend said that in the optimum situation, the maximum that an outgoing tenant would receive was two thirds. Many of us think that in that situation, where the tenant has done virtually everything to create that business and where the landlord has only drawn the rent and made no contributions to buildings or...
Hon. Adam Butler: My right hon. Friend said that only 129 young people accepted for YTS had been recruited to the Army—an extraordinarily low figure. Does he agree that that low number stems from a reluctance by the professionals to take on what they might describe as conscripts? Will he do much more to encourage the scheme in the way described by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Mr. Thompson)?...
Hon. Adam Butler: Time does not permit me to comment fully on other speeches, but I shall pick up one point made by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman). He chided some Conservative Members as being unlikely to stay on until midnight. However, matters of conscience are a 24-hour business. Those who intend to vote against the Bill will be here. We are worried that there will be laxity on...
Hon. Adam Butler: Perhaps my hon. and learned Friend should reflect briefly about compulsory helmet wearing for motorcycle riders. Why should that not have been left to the will of the people? Why should not the compulsory wearing of seat belts be left to the will of the people? The principle does not apply as widely as the Government would have us believe. I have to ask whether the Government want to see the...
Hon. Adam Butler: Does my right hon. Friend accept that many Conservative Members object to the fundamental principle of total deregulation in the Shops Bill? Does he accept also that we want change and would genuinely like to help him put the right legislation on the statute book? Does he agree that, during Monday's debate, one or both of the Ministers should give us a categorical assurance that the...
Hon. Adam Butler: May I press my right hon. Friend on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Latham)? There have been newspaper reports to the effect that the Government are having second thoughts. I must ask him to recognise the very strong opposition to the Shops Bill. That opposition has been expressed to almost all Members of this House who have received many letters from...
Hon. Adam Butler: Are not the Unionists' reactions to the talks at Downing street—they seemed to give some measure of encouragement but have now been translated into even firmer intransigence—likely to alienate the rest of the British people, who give time, energy and a great deal of money to try to help the Province?
Hon. Adam Butler: It is appropriate to congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade on what I take it is his maiden speech in his new capacity. He delivered it in a refreshing manner, and rather blushingly at times. He will have to become all too used to the strange phrases to which some of us have been accustomed for some time. When he debates these issues in the Council of Ministers he will find them...
Hon. Adam Butler: That is a fallacious argument. If we were to negotiate on our own with the various under-developed countries we would get nowhere near as good a bargain as the EEC, with its bargaining power, can obtain for the United Kingdom and other members.
Hon. Adam Butler: Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the keys to popular acceptance of the Anglo-Irish agreement is successful co-operation between the security forces North and South? Therefore, will he ensure that, as far a possible, the maximum publicity is given to cooperation and to its achievements, within our security interests?
Hon. Adam Butler: I will not follow the points made by the right hon. and learned Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris), although I agree that he has made an important point that needs to be answered. That point, however, is a fairly narrow aspect of the problem. I had hoped that my right hon. and hon. Friends would approach the debate with some slight trepidation as to the outcome. Any anxiety that we might have...
