Mr John Browne: I respect that remark, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My right hon. Friend the Minister knows the contents and purposes of the Bill. All I ask is, why does his Ministry continue to try to kill the Bill? Only five minutes ago, an effort was made to stop its progress through the House. It is iniquitous that this sort of Bill is not at least allowed to reach its Committee stage. Why is it not allowed a...
Mr John Browne: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I respect your ruling on that. I turn now to the provision of information by the Ministry of Defence. The first example is the case of the injured Grenadiers. Why was it not possible to produce the full board of inquiry report into an accident in Canada several years previously? The reason was because the report was restricted. Who made it restricted? The major...
Mr John Browne: I do, Mr. Deputy Speaker. At this vital time of transition, the badly injured person moves from the care of the armed forces into local authority care. Such people are often severely injured and they should be prepared early for that transition, not in the last two weeks before they are finally invalided out of the armed forces. My right hon. Friend the Minister was an officer in the...
Mr John Browne: Further to the point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Given that the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) won a place in the ballot and was privileged to have his Bill discussed in the House, does not it seem ridiculous that the Bill can be talked out and prevented from entering Committee? Surely, any such action should be taken in Committee or on Report, and the Bill...
Mr John Browne: I rise briefly to congratulate the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) on introducing the Bill. It is a good measure to bring before the House. I believe that it should be explored in Committee, where its disadvantages can be put more forcefully by the Government. I am president of the Winchester group for the disabled. Not long ago, we had an awareness day when we had...
Mr John Browne: I shall be very brief because I am conscious that hon. Members are waiting to debate the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chislehurst (Mr. Sims), first, on winning his place in the ballot, and, secondly, on what I think will be viewed as an excellent choice of subject for health care, especially by the patients. I declare an interest in the...
Mr John Browne: May I draw my right hon. Friend's attention to early-day motion 585? [That this House is increasingly aware of how it was misled, and indeed used, as part of a finely calculated and deliberate injustice perpetrated for party political reasons against the honourable Member for Winchester and his constituents on 7th March 1990, by senior Government Ministers and of the abuse of the whipping...
Mr John Browne: It is clear that a great and quite deliberate injustice was perpetrated by abusing the privileges and procedures of the House. I first gave notice of that injustice almost a year ago. If the Government, knowing of the case, and of that involving the late Lord Boothby, feel that the people involved are innocent, why does my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House continue to resist the idea...
Mr John Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the staff resources available to the special branch of the RUC.
Mr John Browne: I accept the need for secrecy in the matter. Is the Minister satisfied that the present staffing levels are sufficient to carry out the necessary pre-emptive intelligence work? When will the agreed 441 new RUC people be recruited?
Mr John Browne: Hon. Members should also look at the Opposition Front Bench.
Mr John Browne: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr John Browne: In a speech limited to 10 minutes, I will concentrate on the exchange rate mechanism, especially in light of paragraph 36 of the report by the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee on the autumn statement. I share the Committee's concern about the effects of our membership of the ERM. The ERM is a central and crucial point in the great European debate. In essence, that debate is about...
Mr John Browne: Will my right hon. Friend accept that GPs were encouraged to introduce computerisation partly by an offer of Government funds to refund the cost of that process and, in districts such as the Wessex health authority, those funds have not been fully forthcoming? Will he agree to allow a carry-over into next year to ensure that those GPs who have introduced computerisation will be compensated by...
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. Friend accept that, although nominal interest rates are falling, real interest rates are rising, causing even normally prudent businesses to fail, with increased job losses and mortgage foreclosures? Is it not economic nonsense that our interest rates should be dictated not by our own grave economic needs but by the interests of the German economy? In the absence of a...
Mr John Browne: Is my right hon. Friend aware of the tremendous problem for public houses being caused by the Government's enactment of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the brewery trade—especially in the country, where there is a danger that pubs will be replaced by continental-style bars? Does he not think that if we wait until 1993 for that to be reviewed in the House it will he far too...
Mr John Browne: I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide that, in an action for liability in tort in a case involving the armed forces, a plaintiff need not in all cases show negligence on the part of the Crown. My Bill would reverse the onus of proof of negligence for compensation for those armed services personnel who have sustained severe injuries in the course of their duties. It...
Mr John Browne: Will my right hon. Friend explain why, when between five and six days were given to the discussion of the Queen's Speech, only two days were given for discussion of Maastricht, and then only about a quarter of those hon. Members wishing to speak were able to do so, and they were subject to the Whip? In the future, may we please have a three-day, open-ended debate, without the Whip?
Mr John Browne: Will my hon. Friend give way?
Mr John Browne: Will my right hon. Friend give way?
