Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Rhagfyr 1973.
When we see how this took place—the correspondence is extremely iluminating—let us not forget what has happened to Hebburn. The council borrowed money at 8¼ per cent. If it wants to get money now on the open market, that could cost it 14 per cent. This has damaged the local authority. The clerk has now had to leave his job. That is the sort of trail that has been left by the Act.
Is all this because 31 people wanted to hold a card of the AEUW? They did not want to strike or to take industrial action, but wanted simply to hold a card in their hands. When considering this sort of measure and the size of the fine, we must realise that this was a deliberate decision, as it was in the Heaton case, of the president of the court to assert his authority over the trade unions and to bring them to heel. That is what the £100,000 fine is about. That is what the trade unions are facing at present.
When Sir John Donaldson decides to come down into the market place and to argue his case, he must take what is coming to him. I believe that he has acted wrongly. He has made a major miscalculation in this particular case. If he is not satisfied or if he feels that his court should not be criticised, he should either give up the job or take the appropriate action within his court to answer the case and deal in detail with the AUEW case, and not go to Glasgow to make an after-dinner speech.
Many other things have happened in this court. For instance, there has been a change in the rules of evidence. No lawyer on the Government side of the House has mentioned that today. But by Schedule 3 paragraph 18(5) the rules of evidence have been waived. In the Heaton case a statement of a general secretary of a trade union which was reported in the Press was used in the court as evidence without any qualification or any examination as to its validity. When the case finally reached the House of Lords, the Lords quoted what the general secretary had said as if he had been in the court and given evidence himself.
Then there is another gentleman attached to this court at whom we ought to look—a gentleman by the name of Master Seaton. He was in charge of the sequestration and instructed Clifford-Turner to raise the money. But Master Seaton happens to be the secretary of the court, so he is in a direct line with the president of the court. When Sir John Donaldson went outside the court and said, "I gave no instructions that the money must be taken from the political fund of the AUEW", he also did not give instructions that it must not be taken from the political fund of the AUEW—and that is the crucial point.
I ask the Attorney General, what other High Court acts in the manner of this court? What other High Court allows its president to have negotiations with the Engineering Employers' Federation? What other High Court allows someone like Master Seaton to brief the Press and to seek out judgments of selected Press men?
I do not ask these questions without considered judgment, or without the knowledge that this has taken place. These things are happening in the name of British justice, and they must be exposed. They have been used to support the court—and, in the main, the newspapers are backing the court. In consequence, the trade union movement is not able to get over its point of view and its case. The evidence speaks for itself.
I want to deal for a moment with the political fund of the AUEW. During this debate we have heard a lot about the 1913 Act. We all accept that in cases of contempt no funds are protected, and that any funds are liable if the court so decides. But although any of that political fund money may, if necessary, be put to general use, the 1913 Act prevents a transfer from the general fund into the political fund. This is where the decision directly impinges upon the Labour Party, which is the party supported by those AUEW members who pay the political levy. They do that freely and openly, and it is an absolute disgrace that this outrage has been perpetrated on the British Labour Party.
People may argue about whether the AUEW should have attended the court. There is no clear evidence that if the union had gone to the court it would have had a better judgment. I ask hon. Members to look at what happened to the Transport and General Workers' Union. In one case, the union went to the court and was fined £100,000; and, in the other case, the union did not go to the court but was still fined £100,000. How are trade unionists to assess what has happened? How are people who normally respect the law, who are the backbone of our society—the trade union movement, which is the democratic base upon which the working class in this country operate—to assess the situation? [Laughter.] Let hon. Gentlemen opposite laugh. They do not understand the situation.
On top of all this, the CIR report completely vindicated the union. It said that it was right and that it should be the sole organising body. My union contacted the employers immediately after that decision, but they have still not accepted that the trade union movement should be recognised. This is the key issue.
Was the Government's intention to allow the Con-Mechs, the anti-trade union employers to exist, to allow the Mr. Goads to exploit the situation? Was it to allow the Heatons to operate or to help the GAS company? These employers are in the twilight of industrial relations. They come out from under stones and they are opposed to good industrial relations. They are poisoning industrial relations—and I advise the Conservatives not to laugh at this because the trade union movement is in no laughing mood.
Many major firms have actually gone to the court and used it. Vauxhalls had a dispute and could have taken it there but they did not. The same goes for the National Coal Board. Nevertheless the Government have allowed the Act to remain on the statute book and they have enabled these people to creep out from under the stones and poison our industrial life. It is an absolute disgrace and it should be ended.