I was not in the House when the Court of Star Chamber was established, or when the ordinary criminal courts were established. But the right hon. Gentleman knows that the NIRC was established to deal with industrial relations cases in an entirely different way from that of any other court in the land.

As I said, it is right that the areas in which the court has been operating should be examined and that we should see what it has achieved. More than 11,500 original applications have come to this tribunal under the Act. There have been 566 appeals to the court on points of law. These are areas about which right hon. and hon. Gentlemen do not care, but there are many people who do care about them. The appeals are concerned with unfair dismissal provisions. The right hon. Member for East Ham, North approved the new law on unfair dismissals, and presumably he will include similar provisions in his proposals when he unveils them, so that we can see what is his idea of an industrial relations law.

Nineteen applications for the approved closed shop have been dealt with by the National Industrial Relations Court. There have been 60 applications for recognition of sole bargaining agencies. Those applications have necessarily arisen, in the main, in the developing area of trades unionism because the unions concerned are often small. The hon. Member for Salford, West spoke almost contemptuously of the developing areas of trades unionism, but they should not be overlooked.

A year ago there was a recognition strike by the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs which threatened the Christmas holidays. The employers complained that there had been a strike without notice. The union complained of victimisation. As the employer was unwilling, the court asked the Secretary of State to intervene and industrial action ceased. The recommendation of the CIR was that the ASTMS should be recognised, and a recognition agreement was signed. That is one example of the work of the court. There have been many other cases in which the court has declined to interfere with established bargaining.

Then there are complaints of unfair industrial practices. I know that hon. Gentlemen are not anxious to hear this. [interruption.] There have been 115 cases of alleged unfair industrial practice. [Interruption.] The court—