Mr John Biggs-Davison: When the Labour Government, headed by Clement Attlee, decided to go ahead with the British atom bomb, the Cabinet was not informed. That curious concept of democracy seems to be quite common in the Labour party.
Mr John Biggs-Davison: asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will publish figures showing the information available to him as to the emoluments of legislators in other Commonwealth and European Parliaments, in comparable terms to those of right hon. and hon. Members.
Mr John Biggs-Davison: I thank my right hon. Friend for undertaking to do that. Will not fair-minded people find the comparison impressive, and should it not be more widely known, especially, perhaps, by the press, that this House has resolved to decline the full awards which were recommended by an independent review body?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: I revert after a decent interval to the early-day motion about the miscarriage of justice in the Maguire case. (That this House notes the widespread concern felt in Parliament by eminent scientists, by other responsible observers and by members of the public who have viewed programmes on the matter screened by Channel 4, that Anne Maguire, Patrick Maguire (senior), Vincent Maguire (then aged...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Have Her Majesty's Government, with other Commonwealth Governments, any contingency plans to deal with the collapse of the economy of Zimbabwe and other neighbours of South Africa in the event of the intensification of sanctions against the Republic of South Africa?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Is my hon. Friend aware that many of us who are trade unionists believe that trade unionism with no guarantee against industrial action is inappropriate in establishments which are vital to the national security? As for civil rights, to which the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) referred from the Liberal Benches, what civil rights will there be if this country is unable...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: The difference is that the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference is the centre of an unequal treaty whereas the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council is an organisation where Ministers from two sovereign states can meet on completely equal, reciprocal terms.
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Hon. Members are always glad to listen to the right hon. Member for South Down (Mr. Powell). I had hoped that he would bring with him today his colleagues in the Ulster Unionist party. This is a new situation, and as such perhaps it could have been the occasion on which the Ulster Unionist party as a whole recognised that the Union must be defended in the Parliament of the Union. Perhaps it...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: No doubt a reply to that question will come from the Treasury Bench before the debate is concluded. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State courteously gave way to me when I intervened about the work of scrutiny carried out by the Assembly. My right hon. Friend said that it was far better for that task to be carried out in Northern Ireland because more local people could then be...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Is it not the case that all those admirable functions that were performed by Committees of the Northern Ireland Assembly could well be performed by appropriate Committees of this House?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it in order for a right hon. Gentleman to seek to involve the Palace in a debate in support of his argument?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Are Her Majesty's Government aware that, as a result of this example of frightfulness, the British people of the Falkland Islands are the more resolved that they shall not pass under the sovereignty or administration of Argentina?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Since the abolition of the Northern Ireland Parliament we have had about as many short-lived successive assemblies as in the French revolution. May I ask whether Her Majesty's Government will now declare a moratorium on assemblies and on political initiatives, including the Intergovernmental Conference, and concentrate on the conduct of parliamentary business as befits a Province of the...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: In common with the right hon. and learned Member for Warley, West (Mr. Archer), who spoke for the official Opposition, I gratefully acknowledge the courtesy of the right hon. Member for South Down (Mr. Powell) in providing us with a memorandum telling us of the proposal which he has put before the House. The House is looking forward to the opinion which will be expressed from the Treasury...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Is the right hon. Gentleman saying that as a result the debate would be longer?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: I regret that I do not quite follow the point which the right hon. Gentleman is making. Perhaps I should not remain on that point because time presses and other hon. Members wish to address the House. The right hon. and learned Member for Warley, West said that it has not been easy to justify this expenditure on the Northern Ireland Assembly and he suggested alternative courses for this...
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Will my right hon. Friend—a Tory and a churchman—seek to ensure that once again Whit Monday shall not be a sitting day?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: The whole tenor of the debate has been to insist that there must be special qualifications and disqualifications as to area and interest. My hon. Friend is now saying that the Committee should be larger. Throughout the debate I have been coming to the conclusion that hardly any hon. Member, except my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr. Heath), would be qualified....
Mr John Biggs-Davison: Is my right hon. Friend aware that Dr. FitzGerald agreed with an RTE radio interviewer on 18 May that Nationalist lives had been put under threat as a result of the agreement, and that that was expected? Was that also expected by Her Majesty's Government when they entered into the agreement?
Mr John Biggs-Davison: asked the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 5 June.