I want to write to Lord Morgan
Lord Morgan: My Lords, I became a university teacher in 1958 and I have never been on strike for a single day in that period, nor would I. However, throughout that long period, university teachers have been underpaid. There are difficulties now about their contracts, which was not the case earlier, in particular the use of younger, untrained teachers in a way that imperils jobs. Could one not give more...
Lord Morgan: ...that such extraordinarily general themes as non-violent radicalism are capable of being applied to almost any kind of student activity or student debate that one could conceive of, so how does one strike a balance between non-victimisation and proper inquiry?
Lord Morgan: ...for this measure, which is liberal, humane and in accordance with the progressive consensus in our society, particularly among young people. This is not a young House and it is important that we strike a chord with younger people. However, the Statement contained a quite absurd historical error: it referred to the established church in England and Wales. In Wales, the church has been...
Lord Morgan: ...noble Lords have said, it stands outside the criminal justice system and, in fundamental respects, flouts the rule of law. It does not, I believe, with all respect to the noble Lord, Lord Howard, strike a balance; I do not see a balance here. It creates a system in which decisions about the deprivation of liberty reside not with law or legal authorities but with the Executive. To that...
Lord Morgan: ...colleague, Kingsley Amis, and the professor who observed "history speaking"; that is how I respond to the noble Lord's admirable views in welcoming him here. It is late in the day and I want to strike one new note, at least from these Benches. There is one important feature of the Bill that I very strongly welcome: it is a step towards a codified constitution. That seems to be an admirable...
Lord Morgan: ...bigger the person that I spoke to, the bigger the respect that they had for Lord Callaghan. I discovered a quote from Robert Blatchford, a famous socialist editor, about William Morris. It states: "Strike at him where you would, he rang true". Jim Callaghan always rang true, and I mourn his memory.
Lord Morgan: My Lords, is it not in fact a principle that we observe in other areas of life? In academic life, for example, and no doubt in other professional areas, you seek to strike a balance between people who have the ability to do the job and other kinds of circumstances, including the social background, the context and the needs. It is not necessarily so unique a problem.
Lord Morgan: ...we need something beyond the Emergency Powers Act 1920. I am afraid that I have destroyed a few rain forests writing about that Act. I say to comrades and Peers on these Benches that that was a strike-breaking measure to attack the trade unions and send troops with fixed bayonets to the mining valleys of south Wales. Let us not assume that it was, as it were, a woolly-minded...
Lord Morgan: ...things have declined. In particular, the conditions and payment of university teachers have manifestly declined. Would that university teachers were paid as much as the firemen who are currently on strike. Would I be a university teacher now if I were 23 or 24 years old? Frankly, I do not think so. I believe that the condition of the profession has declined, and many young people are...
Lord Morgan: ...in Europe: they were interested in other matters. I welcome the fact that we are discussing the constitution. As my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor observed, it has been a very striking and radical part--and, in general, a very successful one--of this Government's programme. Much reform is still needed, including, as we heard from the Liberal Democrat Benches, the reform of...