Viscount Hailsham: ...divert police resources from more pressing demands. They often provoke citizens to take the law into their own hands, which undermines the basis of a civil society. They also display a fundamental contempt for democratic and representative government. So I am firmly behind the purpose of the Bill. Some of the opposition to this Bill relies on historical analogies—on the suffragettes,...
Viscount Hailsham: ...people speak to this. Moreover, no deal was decisively rejected in the House of Commons by 413 votes to 202. For government or parliamentarians to disregard such a vote would be to display a contempt for Parliament of the grossest kind. I hope I can gain some reassurance from today’s Statement, where I see that the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons: “Unless this House agrees...
Douglas Hogg: ...Secretary understand my puzzlement at the fact that she has chosen to make a statement that was wholly empty? She could say nothing at all about the arrest of the alleged terrorists because of the contempt of court rules that we all know about. What she could have done was make a statement about the policing of the G20 demonstration or her Department's role in the arrest of my hon. Friend...
Douglas Hogg: I was the worst Whip there has ever been, and I had great contempt for those who did what I told them to do—but enough of that. None the less, I congratulate my hon. Friend on his promotion; I am pleased for him, and he deserves it. You will remember, Mr. Bercow, that I have been busily expressing my opinion at some length on many clauses. Although I have relatively little knowledge of the...
Douglas Hogg: ...that which is likely to cause illegal acts and violence to those who are being criticised should be rendered illegal. The fact that one may cause other people to be held in a state of hatred, moral contempt or whatever should not make the act illegal, albeit that I am the first to concede that it is immoral to do it. I hope that those in the other place will consider the definition of...
Douglas Hogg: Does my hon. Friend agree with this proposition: by curtailing debate, the Government are showing contempt for the views of hon. Members and, more importantly, for the views of the public, who might seek to use their representative to express their views?
Douglas Hogg: ...recover their self-respect. We are in this place to assert the rights of Parliament, to hold the Executive to account and to face down our own party. Until we do that, this place will be held in contempt, and rightly so. The Report stage is a small part of that process. Bills such as the Civil Contingencies Bill, which my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills and I were the only...
Douglas Hogg: ...Back Benchers. You will have seen pages 124 and 122 of "Erskine May", which make it quite plain that visiting pecuniary loss on any Member of Parliament as a method of influencing a vote is clear contempt. You will recall, Mr. Speaker, that about 10 days ago, the House referred to the Standards and Privileges Committee the conduct of the Lord Chancellor, who is alleged to have intimidated...
Douglas Hogg: ...to exercise his discretion under statute. Because he is a member of the other place, and not subject to proper scrutiny or debate, he is not subject to such inquiries. It is another example of the contempt that this Government—whom I detest—have for democracy. If they had any respect for democracy, they would have the senior adviser on legal matters to the Government in this House, but...
Douglas Hogg: ...sides of the House because many of us feel intensely about it. We are being asked to make concessions to those to whom we owe nothing at all—indeed, in respect of whom we have a deep sense of contempt and, dare I say it, loathing. Many of us knew the three hon. Members who were murdered. Ian Gow and Tony Berry are two who come to mind, and they are but a tiny number of those who have...
Douglas Hogg: ...in the early hours of the morning, although it is the common view on the Government Benches that the House is incapable of discussing matters of importance properly at that time. That shows a contempt and disregard for liberty that I would find truly extraordinary, if I did not know this Government.
Douglas Hogg: My right hon. Friend makes a sound point, and he will have noted the contempt that the Leader of the House showed for this provision. My right hon. Friend and I both noticed that the Leader of the House was present during the opening speech from the Government Benches, and that he quickly left the Chamber afterwards and has not been present for any of the subsequent speeches. That is a...
Douglas Hogg: ...should not have explained why he is introducing it. We are entitled to know. The fact that he has not told us, or even advanced an explanation, shows either a lack of mastery of his brief or a contempt for the House, which I find deplorable.
Douglas Hogg: I suspect that he does not, and that suggests that he did not properly prepare himself before speaking from the Dispatch Box. That shows a contempt for the House that I find wholly lamentable. Secondly, it is not good enough that a debate of this sort, which is of some importance, should come out of the time that is allocated for the substantive motions that are to be debated. It is not...
Douglas Hogg: ...this matter will be pushed to a Division, because I want to see Labour MPs voting against compensation. By doing so, they will declare their true colours. I view their position on this matter with contempt.
Douglas Hogg: ...Secretary, who presented the motion to the House, manifestly had not read paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, or if he had, he had not understood them. That is a lamentable state of affairs. It suggests a contempt for Parliament and the parliamentary process which my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst and I believe to be wholly wrong. I hope that my right hon. Friend will join me...
Douglas Hogg: ...and respect for the law. It is an absolute outrage that the timetable motion and the Division that, I hope, will follow will come out of substantive time. That again shows the Government's contempt for the House. I am against timetables. We should go on protesting, although timetabling is becoming the norm under the Government.
Douglas Hogg: ...place. If legislation that passes out of this House has not been the subject of rational or informed discussion, what legitimacy does the legislation have? It brings the process of law making into contempt.
Douglas Hogg: ...would be material to this discussion, yet they have allowed the debate to go forward, although they could have stopped it, without having the benefit of the view of the noble Lord Burns. That is a contempt of the Committee that they established. The only conclusion can be that the Government are displaying hypocrisy of an extraordinary kind. My third point, on the matter to which my hon....
Douglas Hogg: ...adopted one position, which I shall elaborate at some length, but I have never attended a debate that was so poorly attended by those who wished to abolish fox hunting. That seems to show either a contempt of Parliament, or a disregard for the rights and liberties of our constituents, which is deeply shameful.