Mr Robin Squire: I shall be grateful to receive your traditional tolerance, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, should my speech extend over one or two areas that are not normally associated with education. I pay full tribute to my predecessor Mr. Alan Lee Williams. He was a great constituency Member of Parliament who enjoyed popularity on both sides of the House. Since my return to this place I had begun to...
Mr Robin Squire: I begin by apologising to the House and to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for being prevented by a constituency engagement from being present for the end of the debate. I shall read the speeches of other hon. Members in the Official Report, thereby, no doubt, increasing my knowledge of the problems of London. I speak as one who until recently was the leader of a London borough, and in that...
Mr Robin Squire: We have reached the stage where a number of us will find that our carefully prepared words have already been uttered by my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Mr. Skeet) or by other hon. Members. I shall therefore elaborate on some of the points already made. This is the fourth attempt to get such a Bill through the House. That surely underlines the need, perceived by many hon. Members over...
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Lord Privy Seal whether his noble Friend has any plans to meet his European ministerial colleagues in the immediate future.
Mr Robin Squire: Will my right hon. Friend ensure that his office has the fullest consultation in advance of these meetings with our European parliamentary colleagues and the leadership to ensure that we retain the best advantage from any initiatives taken by the European Parliament?
Mr Robin Squire: Does my right hon. Friend recognise that, notwithstanding the argument of the hon. Member for Bootle, (Mr. Roberts), one of the restraining factors in the attempt to reduce local government staff is the determination of certain Labour authorities to carry on as though nothing has changed, and to increase staff by 200 or 300 over the next year?
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on whether he intends to introduce a town and country planning general development amendment order.
Mr Robin Squire: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he give an assurance that the GDO as proposed by the Government will reduce the number of private dwellings in need of minimal adaptations that are required to go through the cumbersome and time-consuming planning process?
Mr Robin Squire: I shall be brief, partly because I hope to catch the eye of the Chair tomorrow afternoon in another debate but also because there appears to be general agreement among speakers from either side of the Chamber about the Government's motion. As a strong and unrepentant pro-European, I should nevertheless like to put one or two matters on the record. The hon. Member for Wrexham (Mr. Ellis) has...
Mr Robin Squire: I speak as a London borough councillor and a former leader of that authority. I shall not deal with the florid comments by the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Ogden). However, he may detect an element of sympathy during my enforced 10-minute speech. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on much that is in the Bill. I say that with sincerity, although time...
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Lord Privy Seal when he next expects to meet his European counterparts.
Mr Robin Squire: Does my right hon. Friend recognise that there are continuing important issues other than the question of the budget? Will he impress on his colleagues in the EEC the importance of concluding the new co-operation agreement with Yugoslavia, taking into account the ailing health of its President?
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Minister for the Civil Service what progress he is making in cutting expenditure in his Department.
Mr Robin Squire: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he accept that one of the more effective ways of reducing Civil Service expenditure is to reduce the duplication of jobs carried out by central and local government? Will my hon. Friend encourage his right hon. and hon. Friends to extend the removal of controls along the line suggested by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment?
Mr Robin Squire: When my right hon. Friend considers the rate support grant, will he also look carefully at the submissions of the joint authority associations that he has recently received? They go some way to meet the Government's proposals for control of expenditure. Is he aware that, in addition, they remove some of the more objectionable features of the present system?
Mr Robin Squire: Will my right hon. Friend confirm that in any discussions on the possible accession of Turkey he will reiterate the Government's view that there can be no accession without a firm and just final solution to the problem of Cyprus?
Mr Robin Squire: Will my right hon. Friend continue to remind the House and the country that when the Labour Party was in Government it achieved a reduction in the inflation rate only when the Labour Government were forced to introduce the so-called monetarist measures that they now criticise us for pursuing?
Mr Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend has had the opportunity to read the words of the General Secretary of the TUC explaining why the day of inaction has been called. Does he now agree that instead of the grounds being merely weak, as we had previously assumed, they are non-existent?
Mr Robin Squire: asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when last he chaired the consultative council on local government finance.
Mr Robin Squire: At that meeting, will my right hon. Friend discuss the relatively unsatisfactory staffing levels—disclosed in the latest quarterly survey—with leaders of the local authority associations?
