Mr James Lamond: Will the Leader of the House find out whether the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry noticed the statement last week by Alan Nightingale, chairman of the Apparel, Knitting and Textile Alliance, drawing attention to a large number of methods that other countries are using either to prevent our textiles getting into their countries or to aid theirs getting into our country? Will he also...
Mr James Lamond: This is one of them.
Mr James Lamond: Is the Minister aware that the number of eye tests in the Oldham area dropped by one third last year? Is he aware that even when people are examined, are found to have cataracts and wait a long time for the operation, some of them—such as a 91-year-old constituent of mine—are told that Royal Oldham hospital, which has been granted trust status, does not have the money to provide the...
Mr James Lamond: What about the Leader of the House initiating a system of secondary statements, perhaps next week, so that hon. Members can recall Ministers to the Dispatch Box to correct statements that they made earlier, such as when the Prime Minister told us that he had solved the problem of the repossession of houses? A month later, we find that nothing has been done or achieved. Houses are still being...
Mr James Lamond: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Could you find time to make it clear to Ministers that, if Opposition Front Bench Members were to rise to the taunts that we have heard often today to answer questions, give the Labour party's policy and so on, you would be forced to rule such interventions out of order? They are not here to answer questions. The Government are here to defend their policy,...
Mr James Lamond: Does the Minister recall the remark made by President Yeltsin the other day which so delighted the Prime Minister—that Britain's nuclear weapons were irrelevant and of no consequence in the discussions about nuclear disarmament? Does not that remark demonstrate that we never had an independent nuclear deterrent, as neither President Yeltsin nor anyone else in the Soviet Union accepted it as...
Mr James Lamond: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I raise this point of order as a genuine friend, not a special friend. Question No. 4 to the Prime Minister today was a closed question about May day. Normally, following your reasonable practice, you call a Member from one side and then the other. Therefore, there was an opportunity for those of us who are interested in May day to ask a question....
Mr James Lamond: Next week the Government must give their response to a finding by the European Community, after a three-year investigation, that dumping of cotton and polyester yarn has been proved against Turkey, Brazil and Egypt. During the three years that this has taken to consider, 31 spinning mills have closed, with a loss of 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. Naturally, those who are employed in the industry and...
Mr James Lamond: As a Member sponsored by the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, I can tell the Secretary of State that many thousands of members of my union expect him to turn what talent he has to increasing employment—a far more important priority than this window dressing for election purposes. I wish to explore a point of detail. Did the Secretary of State say that the members of a union should...
Mr James Lamond: Could we have additional information, perhaps by means of a statement next week, about those whose homes are being repossessed? Only this morning, I tried to intervene on behalf of a constituent whose home is being repossessed. When I reminded the lending society of what we had been told last week in the House of Commons, I was told, "We do not know very much about it; discussions are...
Mr James Lamond: Which aspect of this industrial investment paradise does the Secretary of State think is most attractive to inward investors? Is it that they will not be bothered by maximum working hours or minimum wages, or is it just that the trade union movement in this country has been crippled by repressive legislation over the past 12 years?
Mr James Lamond: Is not this proposal rather inadequate and late? Should not the Government shoulder the financial responsibility for rescuing people who are being dispossessed, and spread that burden of costs throughout society, by means of the tax system? Surely it cannot be right to ask investors in building societies—who received a passing mention from the Chancellor—to carry the burden of the cost of...
Mr James Lamond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on the number of jobs in the north-west region of England which are related to defence requirements.
Mr James Lamond: That answer is in line with what we have had before, so it is not unexpected. If we are prepared to participate in a European bank for reconstruction and development to help countries in eastern Europe which are facing the same problems as Britain's defence industry workers, could we not at least set up a defence diversification agency to help the tens of thousands of workers in the...
Mr James Lamond: The reduction in inflation is to be welcomed; it will greatly assist in increasing the number of job opportunities. However, does not every reduction in the inflation rate leave the real interest rate a little higher? Surely the Chancellor now has the opportunity to announce a further cut in interest rates. That would help every company in the country, including the small companies that were...
Mr James Lamond: Although both the successful conclusion of the GATT negotiations and the temporary extension of the multi-fibre arrangement are welcome, can the Secretary of State assure us that there will be some mechanism to control the expansion of imports of textiles and footwear into this country after the M FA finishes? Will he bear in mind the fact that many eastern European countries are looking to...
Mr James Lamond: As next Tuesday's business will, in all probability, include the introduction of three new Members wishing to take their places here, may I ask the Leader of the House to arrange for a good turnout of the Cabinet on that occasion to welcome such of the Tory candidates who were able successfully to present Tory party policy to the electorate?
Mr James Lamond: Does the Chancellor recall that, about a year ago, from a comfortable job and home, he told us that the only acceptable way out of the mess that his Government had got into over the past 11 years was for people to sacrifice their businesses, their homes and their jobs in order to reduce inflation? After hundreds of thousands of people have done just that, today the right hon. Gentleman tells...
Mr James Lamond: Is the Secretary of State telling us that he has so little confidence in the ending of the recession that he does not believe that there will be sufficient wealth in the economy to cascade down to those on the very lowest wages, who are asking for just £3·40 per hour, which is barely enough to maintain a reasonable standard of living?
Mr James Lamond: Before the Secretary of State's Parliamentary Private Secretary wastes his time during his cowardly political smear attacks, I tell the Secretary of State that hon. Members who are sponsored by trade unions receive no money directly from them—unlike Conservative Members, who get money in their pockets. Does not it speak volumes for the Secretary of State for Employment that, at a time when...
