I join right hon. and hon. Members in welcoming the return of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and particularly his return to the Department of Employment, which he knows well and where he is well known.

My right hon. Friend arrived back with an advantage and a disadvantage. His disadvantage is that after his admirable work in Ireland his stock is so high in the land that he will find it very hard to live up to his own reputation. His advantage is that in his last post he won the trust of both sides of the House and of people all over the country to an extent rarely achieved by a Minister. Over the coming difficult months that trust may well be his biggest asset.

As sometimes happens in the House, we are today having a valuable debate hung on the peg of a very poor motion. I shall argue shortly that this is an opportune occasion to discuss constructively the Industrial Relations Act and possible amendments to it, as the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Hooson) has just done.

First, I will deal with the other parts of the motion. The motion is the expression, watered down for respectability, of the Left-wing theme that the citizen is justified in defying or rejecting any law that he does not like. I heard Hugh Scanlon say on television that his union was a law-abiding union, but he added that his members reject a law that will destroy the union. On other occasions he has said that the Act is impotent and is ignored by industry. I dare say that the right hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) would say that Mr. Scanlon and his friends were merely conscientious objectors, and probably Mr. Hain would say the same.