Mr Stanley Crowther: Is the right hon. Gentleman overlooking the fact that the Secretary of State for Employment is intending to require trade unions to hold a ballot of their members on whether they should have a political fund? Why, therefore, does the Secretary of State not introduce legislation to require companies to hold a ballot of shareholders before they give the funds from which contributions are made...
Mr Stanley Crowther: Will the Minister consider what I said about Rotherham? For almost 20 years Rotherham has had assisted area status, but its unemployment level is still as far above the national average as it was when it began to be an assisted area. Does not the Minister reach the conclusion that something more than the traditional policy of assisted and development areas must be introduced if we are to cure...
Mr Stanley Crowther: The hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Whitfield) has done the House a service by selecting an extremely important subject for debate. I listened with great interest to his speech—a rather lengthy one. I agree with much of what he said. In particular I support his call for radical policies to solve the problem. I regret that at the end of his speech his suggestions did not seem to be very...
Mr Stanley Crowther: My hon. Friend is right. In the early 1960s Rotherham started feeling the pinch of technological unemployment. We lost many jobs, not through the collapse of the market for steel, bur because of the technological advance in the steel industry. Ever since then, for more than 20 years, the unemployment level in my constituency has been at least 50 per cent. above the national average. In the...
Mr Stanley Crowther: Is not the right hon. Gentleman proving the case for the z.mendment in the names of my right hon. and hon. Friends? Is he not proving to the hilt that the case is fully made out for the increase recommended by Plowden to be implemented not in four years time but now? If that is his argument, how can he justify his own amendment?
Mr Stanley Crowther: Does the Secretary of State appreciate the simple point that true democracy consists of allowing people to make their own decisions about the rules governing the affairs of the organisations of which they are members? Is he aware that every trade union incorporates in its rules provisions under which a majority of its members can change those rules if they wish? How can he pretend that it is...
Mr Stanley Crowther: Will the Secretary of State take the opportunity, as soon as possible, to read the evidence taken recently by the Select Committee on Industry and Trade about the recent strike at British Leyland? Is he aware that he will then realise that that dispute, which caused the loss of a great deal of production, was due entirely to the utter failure of the management to consult the work force and to...
Mr Stanley Crowther: Is the Secretary of State aware that in the British Steel Corporation, where Mr. MacGregor has presided over the destruction of nearly 120,000 jobs, the survivors of that massacre view his departure with great fortitude and relief? Indeed, is the right hon. Gentleman aware that they regard the National Coal Board's loss as the steel industry's gain? Does he intend to accept the same type of...
Mr Stanley Crowther: I am sure that everyone is listening to the hon. Gentleman with great care. Will he tell the House by how much the rates have had to increase to compensate for the loss of rate support grant since the Government took over? Is it not equivalent to at least 25p in the pound?
Mr Stanley Crowther: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that the maximum benefit is gained from the implementation in 1979 of veterinary supervision of poultry slaughterhouses.
Mr Stanley Crowther: Does the Minister feel that extra benefits would be gained if official veterinary surgeons supervising slaughterhouses were to be given statutory powers to support their professional and ethical responsibilities? Would not benefits be gained from a more formal and co-ordinated use of their experience and expertise, not only with regard to the welfare of birds, which is extremely important,...
Mr Stanley Crowther: I should like to comment briefly on amendment No. 20 and then turn to amendment No. 22. Amendment No. 20 would leave out "particular" from a part of the Bill which will require the passenger transport authority to have "particular regard" to certain matters. There are three matters to which it would have to have particular regard. Unfortunately, this appears to be in conflict with section...
Mr Stanley Crowther: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. I have not seen that letter, but it reinforces my point. It further illustrates the nonsense of the position that will be created by this foolish Bill. 10.15 pm I would have liked the opportunity to draw some illustrations from the document to which I referred, but time is too short. I will mention only one which demonstrates my point...
Mr Stanley Crowther: I wish to clarify that point. Is the Minister saying categorically that the South Yorkshire county council, in pursuance of its duty as a structure plan authority, and committed to a cheap bus fare policy approved by the Secretary of State for the Environment, will not fall foul of this legislation if it goes well over the PEL?
Mr Stanley Crowther: rose—
Mr Stanley Crowther: No one is suggesting that an authority should be immune from legal action if it acts irresponsibly, foolishly and unreasonably. We object to the fact that under the Bill an authority which has acted completely reasonably and responsibly, and which under the present law is protected against action, in accordance with Mr. Justice Woolf's famous judgment in the Merseyside case, will in future be...
Mr Stanley Crowther: I am happy to assure the hon. Member for Portsmouth, North (Mr. Giffiths) that there is no better bus service in this country than that in south Yorkshire. If he cares to come to find out how good it is, instead of sitting here criticising, he will perhaps learn a great deal. Of course, having a good service involves paying for it. It is not had for nothing. The people of south Yorkshire have...
Mr Stanley Crowther: If the hon. Gentleman had known anything about the history of local government he would not have made that remark. The tradition has been that authorities are elected and carry out the wishes of those who elected them. They do not have Secretary's of State breathing down their necks and telling them what they can do. That has been happening for the past three years and I find that tragic. No...
Mr Stanley Crowther: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am desperately trying to follow the relevance of the hon. Gentleman's remarks to the timetable motion. I cannot understand what Liverpool docks or the docks in his constituency have to do with a timetable motion on the Transport Bill.
Mr Stanley Crowther: In his use of the word "licence", is not the hon. Gentleman overlooking—as is the Secretary of State—the judgment of Mr. Justice Woolf in the case of the Merseyside transport authority? Mr. Justice Woolf specifically laid down the rights and duties of an authority under the law. There is no question of the authority being able to act with what the hon. Gentleman called "licence"—to act...
