Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Rhagfyr 1973.
Mr Peter Crowder
, Ruislip Northwood
12:00,
4 Rhagfyr 1973
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. I suggest, in particular to Opposition Members and in general to trades unionists, that it is a great pity that the National Industrial Relations Court is not adorned and arrayed as a court of law. Trades unionists in this country have always accepted the rule of law and the judgments of British courts. But a judge and counsel should be properly adorned in wig and gown even in a court dealing with industrial relations. It is a great mistake that Sir John Donaldson has been allowed to sit on a kind of semi-conventional oasis. Let it be the law of England or nothing else.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
