Mr John Browne: These are unusual times. The recession that we are experiencing is unusually deep—deeper than recessions that we have known before. It is amazing that the Government should choose such a time for this plan. As the inflation rate drops, real interest rates are increasingly high, and rising by the week. In Winchester, Alton and other parts of the country, normally prudent people are being...
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. Friend accept that the action of the Governments and armed forces of our country, the United States of America and the Arab allies has been bold and effective, thus lending new and awesome consequence to the implementation of United Nations resolutions, which have been made possible by the new peace of detente between the great powers? Does my right hon. Friend agree that...
Mr John Browne: I declare an interest in the debate as a member of the Territorial Army. A few years ago Mr. Gorbachev challenged the world to a new order—it was not a challenge of war, but of peace. He proposed to change the very nature of peace itself, from a peace of nuclear deterrence to a peace of detente—to allow for the institution of the international rule of law. Now, that new peace of detente...
Mr John Browne: Is my right hon. Friend aware that Ben Hopper, the two-year-old British son of a British single parent who is one of my constituents, is to be extradited to Canada against his mother's will under what can best be described as a quirk of the Hague convention? Through Government sources, will my right hon. Friend encourage the Canadian Government to afford Mrs. Hopper legal aid in Canada? Will...
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. Friend accept that one group of our citizens who should not be subjected to the community charge are British hostages in the Gulf? Will he agree to issue an advice to that effect, or even a directive under primary legislation, so that uncertainty, anxiety and anger can be removed?
Mr John Browne: Will my right hon. Friend accept that Saddam Hussein and other enemies of our country, wherever they may lie, must have heaved a huge sigh of relief at the news of our Prime Minister's resignation this morning?
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. Friend accept that the Paris charter effectively announced the end of not only the cold war but the second world war? Does she accept that the resolution of and co-operation between the United States and the United Kingdom were crucial to the achievement of that goal and that it is likely to remain vital to the achievement of peace in the years ahead—especially in the...
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. Friend accept that a single European currency is not a soft option but a harsh option and that the introduction of a single currency, without first achieving a single European market and then a single European economy, would be an extremely harsh option? Does my right hon. Friend accept also that it would benefit neither the consumer nor the producer fairly but merely the...
Mr John Browne: Will my hon. Friend assure the House that those members of the armed forces who have been assigned a duty in the Gulf will not suffer under the community charge because of their posting?
Mr John Browne: The House has heard a fascinating and wide-ranging speech by the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell), and I look forward to hearing the Government's answers. I enjoyed also the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr. Nelson), who has exceptional knowledge of corporate law and of the taxation and financial sectors. I disagree with some of my hon. Friend's concepts, such as...
Mr John Browne: I can only answer for my own view, which is that the regulation does not seem to cover that aspect adequately. My hon. Friend the Minister will explain the Government's viewpoint. I have no objection to the principle of non-executive directors, but to impose them, and the percentage of a board for which they should account, is wrong. Again, that aspect merits its own debate rather than be...
Mr John Browne: I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me again after an interregnum of some six hours. Six hours ago I was discussing the exchange rate mechanism and European monetary union. My main point was that we cannot have fair and workable European monetary union or a single European currency until we at least have a single European market, let alone a single European economy. European...
Mr John Browne: First, I must declare that I have financial interests that could be affected by German reunification. To a large extent, German reunification is the result of the drive, wish and initiative of the German people. It is a just and great event and the stage for it was set by Mr. Gorbachev. He did so in response to the great political fortitude shown by the United States, Great Britain and by...
Mr John Browne: Does not my right hon. Friend think that the German idea at which he hinted in his speech—that Germany sees its future in terms of economic rather than military growth—could he the seed of that theory?
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that the haemophiliacs who were injected with imported blood containing the HIV virus were the victims of a unique accident which is not the stuff of precedent, and as such are not they entitled to generous, once-off, compassionate compensation? If the Government were not persuaded of that by the excellent Adjournment debate initiated by my hon....
Mr John Browne: I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on a quite outstanding speech and support him and the Government's policies in the proposals submitted to our European partners on economic and monetary union. As the Chancellor said, they are based on the so-called hard ecu. Our economy has been and will be vitally affected by currency and interest rates. At the outset, I declare a...
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that there is a serious and rising problem of under-age drinking, which is often caused by adults who buy drink and give it to under-age people, knowing that its consumption will not be supervised? is there time for a debate on this serious issue?
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that the Montreal protocol meetings, to be held in London and hosted by Her Majesty's Government, are likely to prove a crucial test of the true environmental policies of most major nations? Please may we have a debate on the subject before the meetings take place, so that the Government are aware of Back-Bench feelings?
Mr John Browne: Further to that question about reductions, can my hon. Friend assure the House that whatever the size and level of the Army in the future—I quite understand that that has yet to be determined—the regimental system will be maintained, as opposed to the infantry corps system, which is common in some other armies?
Mr John Browne: Does my right hon. and learned Friend recall that the parties to the Montreal protocol are meeting in London at the end of June, and that one of the specific items that they will be discussing is the depletion of the ozone layer? Is he further aware that early-day motion 932 calls clear attention to the need to phase out methyl chloroform? [That this House calls upon Her Majesty's Government...
