Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Rhagfyr 1973.
Then he will know that the purpose of past legislation was to protect union funds from legal attach-ability. This prevents any court from seeking to take any such action. The political funds of the AUEW are undoubtedly protected by the two pieces of statute law which I have cited. This was not denied by the right hon. and learned Member for Hertfordshire, East (Sir D. Walker-Smith), for whom I have a profound respect. As a distinguished Queen's Counsel, he did not deny it.
The moneys concerned are not collected for the day-to-day operational activities of my trade union. Therefore, I regard this action by the court as a blatant attack on the Labour Party. If any Conservative denies that, let him get up and say so.
The motion which was moved by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham, North (Mr. Prentice) justifiably condemns the Tory Government and the damage done by the Industrial Relations Act as laying a terrible financial burden on unions. The new Secretary of State for Employment was right to say, earlier in the debate, that it is the Government we should attack. I remind him that the political honeymoon in the transitional period between the two jobs will probably take as long as does the journey from Ireland to Westminster. If it is said that a political court should not be involved, the Government should not have created this Act. The Government were warned about this, time and again.
Sir John Donaldson made a cardinal error in delivering his speech in Glasgow on 26th November. Not only has it caused people to denigrate his court but, by inference, in terms of the involvement of the court in political controversy, it has tended to denigrate the whole judiciary. Sir John Donaldson should not have acted in that way ; he was foolish to do so.
I believe that the protection of the political funds of my union is covered by the words in Section 154(4) of the Industrial Relations Act 1971, to the effect that
under the rules of the organisation property which is or has been comprised in that fund is precluded from being used for financing strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action.
Therefore, I believe that the hon. and learned Member for South Fylde did not know what he was talking about.
Another important aspect involves the abrogation of a contract between a willing lender and a willing borrower. My union and Hebburn UDC freely and legally concluded an agreement which was ignored in the speech of the hon. and learned Member for South Fylde, despite the inescapable proof produced showing that the money came from funds to be devoted entirely to political purposes. How often in this House and elsewhere have I heard Tories talk about the sanctity of contract. But in this case the sanctity of contract was not held up before us. An ignorant sequestrator and an equally ignorant judge did not observe the proper section of the law relating to this state of affairs. It is a blatant attack on the Labour Party, because, as one of my hon. Friends said, this would help considerably in propagating the intents, objectives, policies and programmes of the party that I am proud to represent in this House.
The Tories have created the necessity for trade unions to register. At the election they decided to do something about them. Surely the lawyers must agree that no Bill is so perfect that it does not require amendment. Right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite, of their own free will, voted against every amendment that we sought to make to the Industrial Relations Bill. They cannot run away from that charge. It is on record.
If it was a cardinal error to attempt to shackle free collective bargaining with the rigidity of law, why has no attempt been made to bring to book the rogue employer, Con-Mech? Nothing has been said about that firm by the defenders of political faith. Why is absolution freely granted to this firm and swingeing fines imposed on my trade union? There is a sense of precision and logic in law, but of imprecision and logic there. That is the inherent weakness of the Act. Even one so politically dense as the Prime Minister must be aware, if only dimly, of the incalculable cost to the British nation of the harsh legal rigidity and repressive nature of the Industrial Relations Act.
We in the trade union movement have a great belief in and respect for the law, but the Lord Chancellor, in his accusation last night—in a phrase to which he has the sole prescriptive right—went stark staring bonkers.
The objectives must be for the Government to restore free collective bargaining. No legal commandment or instruction will effect a bargain so soundly as one that is negotiated freely across the table, one man to another.
Let us keep the judiciary entirely free from politics. We believe that with the repeal of the Act we can restore industrial relations to a sound basis in order that this intangible, priceless component of British industry can help the Labour Party, when it comes to power, to restore our nation to economic greatness. We did it before. What we did before we can do again.