Mr Ernest Roberts: In view of the effect upon the pound and the economy of the mining strike caused by the Government, will the Government explain to the House why they are preventing proper negotiations from taking place between the National Coal Board and the miners? From time to time it is clearly stated in the press that the Prime Minister and the Government are responsible for holding up negotiations in...
Mr Ernest Roberts: rose—
Mr Ernest Roberts: At the meeting did the Prime Minister raise the urgent and serious problem of massive unemployment in Europe? What cures and solutions did she suggest at the meeting?
Mr Ernest Roberts: I shall be brief as many of my hon. Friends wish to take part in the debate. I can remember the 1920s and 1930s. I also remember that a national health service was opposed by previous Tory and Liberal Governments. It was introduced by a Labour Government who always fought for a health service paid for out of taxation. The Government are butchering the health services, and by doing so are...
Mr Ernest Roberts: I shall be brief so that my hon. Friends can also contribute to the debate. Hackney suffers considerable poverty but the disabled, both black and white, are right at the bottom of the heap. Hackney borough council is doing its best to make their life bearable. It is the first authority in Britain to appoint an officer with staff to deal specifically with the problems of the disabled. But, as...
Mr Ernest Roberts: In addition to the schemes that my hon. Friend will mention and others which have been mentioned which will be affected by the cuts, there are the cuts that will take place in Hackney, an area which suffers from numerous problems and where many schools will be affected, such as William Patten, Stoke Newington, Harrington hill, Craven park and Clissold road, which are only a few examples. The...
Mr Ernest Roberts: We discussed the Bill in Committee for many weeks, yet the Government have conceded very few amendments. This is a bad Bill because it takes London Transport out of democratic control. It is a bad Bill because it imposes financial burden on ratepayers without their authority. It is a bad Bill because it disintegrates London Transport, British Rail, the underground and bus services. It is a...
Mr Ernest Roberts: It has already been made clear in the debate that local authorities will have to make a 66 per cent. compulsory payment towards the financial support of London Regional Transport. That will mean that the rates for the 32 boroughs for the cost of transport will be fixed by the House; it will be done by dictation and not by local democracy. New clause 12 contains the London Transport Money Bill...
Mr Ernest Roberts: Although hon. Members might have read this document, they have not understood it; if they have understood it, they have completely ignored it. They should take note of the advice being given to them by the GLC, because it knows what it is doing and saying from practice. If the Government are to reduce the costs of public transport to London ratepayers they must either significantly increase...
Mr Ernest Roberts: The Secretary of State was keen to accuse the GLC of spending ratepayers' money in a campaign on the issue of free fares, but the very fact that a concessionary fares scheme is now going into the Bill is justification of the money spent by the GLC. It mounted a campaign which was supported by old-age pensioners and by the disabled and, as a result of that pressure, what should have been in...
Mr Ernest Roberts: The old-age pensioners and the disabled will be at the tender mercy of one person— not the GLC, an elected body, but the Secretary of State. Furthermore, there is a fear that the sectors of public transport which are to be sold to private profiteers will not be available for free travel for pensioners and others. Another fear is that poor boroughs such as Hackney, part of which I...
Mr Ernest Roberts: The hon. Gentleman may know that, for a considerable number of years, I was the political officer for a million political levy-paying members of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers. One could count on two hands the number of complaints we received. Those who wanted to contract out had no difficulty in not paying the political levy to the union. Not one of those million members had...
Mr Ernest Roberts: Three of the most important things in life are a job, a home and good health. They are all related and everyone has the right to them. In an Adjournment debate in the previous Parliament I raised at 1.30am with the Under-Secretary the problem of the homeless and helpless.in London. He will remember that debate. The position has since worsened. The Under-Secretary has been invited to see the...
Mr Ernest Roberts: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is it possible to have an extension under the Standing Orders to allow this debate to continue until 3 o'clock?
Mr Ernest Roberts: Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the costs of the solution of crime in London? A recent comparison showed that the cost of solving a crime is about £1,400 in other parts of the country, whereas in London it is more than £5,000. In view of the fact that there is concern about closing down the GLC because of its costs, should not the same be done with regard to the Metropolitan police?
Mr Ernest Roberts: There is some truth in what the hon. Member for Surbiton (Mr. Tracey) said. We face enormous problems such as the large number of unemployed, the 1 million homeless and many other social problems. Our basic industries have been devastated. We have a Tory Government pursuing Tory policies. The hon. Member for Surbiton is right. Such policies create the problems that I have outlined, for local...
Mr Ernest Roberts: The housing benefit scheme is based on the philosophy of the workhouse—to keep benefits down to starvation level. That has not worried the Government but it has worried those who support the Government. The housing benefit scheme is so bad that the Government pile the whole measure onto the backs of the local authorities. The housing benefit cuts of about £230 million will be operated by...
Mr Ernest Roberts: The Secretary of State becomes fouler and fouler in his privatisation schemes for the Health Service. The Tory Government, not satisfied with the murderous attacks that they have made on hospital services, are now determined to make the public pay through their eyes by making them pay more for eye care. About 3 million people will be deprived through the operation of the Bill. Those who...
Mr Ernest Roberts: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Ernest Roberts: Is not the exemption of children under the Bill an evidence of the serious results that can arise if eyesight is not treated correctly, and is that not just as important for old people as for children?