To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received in response to the green paper issued in July.

As of yesterday, 49 had been received. The closing date for receipt of representations is tomorrow.

Will not the proposals contained in the green paper continue the excellent work of the Government's previous trade union legislation and give more power and influence to individual citizens and individual trade union members? Does my right hon. and learned Friend believe that the Labour party's representations will be affected in any way by the recent election of a communist as the deputy general secretary of Labour's greatest paymaster, the Transport and General Workers Union?

I am looking forward to the Opposition's representations in response to the green paper. There is still time for those representations to be received and I assume that the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman will be rushing away from questions this afternoon to put the finishing touches to his representations.

My hon. Friend is right on his last point. There may no longer be room for communists in Warsaw, Prague or East Berlin. They may have been ejected from the Kremlin, but there will always be a welcome for them at Transport house.

Will the Minister answer this question? During the past few weeks, there have been statements that Britain has the lowest strike record for 30 years. But we have the biggest depression and recession since the end of the second world war. How can the unions, communists or any such people, be to blame?

As a result of the Laws passed by the Government, we have the lowest number of strikes for about 60 years. Is the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) suggesting that the real remedy for any ills that we may be suffering at the moment is to make it easier for people to strike? Of course that is the remedy suggested by his Front-Bench spokesman.

Has my right hon. and learned Friend received any representations about the citizens charter proposal to give members of the public the right to stop unlawful public sector strikes? Does he agree that it is high time that Labour made clear its views on that?

Yes. That proposal has been widely welcomed and, as I said earlier, I await with eager anticipation representations on it from the Labour party.

Will the Secretary of State tell the House about the representation received from Conservative trade unionists? In particular, can he say whether it is accurate that they said that the balance had already swung too far against trade unions and that they, like everybody else, regard the Secretary of State as a right-wing loony?

I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman. We have yet to receive representations on the green paper from Conservative trade unionsts. The hon. Gentleman is falling into the customary trap of relying on unsubstantiated newspaper reports, which on this occasion appear to have little basis in truth.