Mr James Lamond: Late? I saw him yesterday.
Mr James Lamond: What about having a debate on the multi-fibre agreement? Does the Leader of the House remember that we were due to have a debate on it in November and lost it? There was a debate on the GATT negotiations, but most of that was taken up with agricultural matters. It is high time that hon. Members from textiles areas had an opportunity to air their views on the MFA.
Mr James Lamond: Will the Secretary of State ensure that his remarks are conveyed to those negotiating on our behalf? He must have received the same anguished letters as we have from manufacturers who say that unless the GATT regulations are strengthened and enforced, doing away with the MFA will bring further problems for the textile industry, which is already very weak.
Mr James Lamond: May I ask the Prime Minister not to allow the fact that the first action of a United Nations operating with the new, full-hearted support that it has found has ended in this dreadful tragedy of war to dissuade him from giving equally strong and full-hearted support to the UN's other proposals to deal with difficulties not only in the Gulf area but elsewhere in the middle east and in the...
Mr James Lamond: When the Prime Minister spoke of sending our negotiators back to the table at the GATT negotiations with a view to making progress, surely he cannot intend that we weaken even further our attitude towards this country's clothing and textile industry, which is already suffering from the fact that the European Community is supposed to deal with matters relating to dumping, but never gets round...
Mr James Lamond: May we take it that there will be a statement next week, or perhaps even tomorrow, about the outcome of the GATT negotiations in Brussels? Those negotiations are tremendously important to many of my constituents who work in textiles. We want to know what is happening and perhaps we could even have a debate on this important subject.
Mr James Lamond: Now that the Minister has made it clear that the MFA is to be abandoned in the talks in Brussels and that the GATT rules are unlikely to be strengthened in the way the industry wants, will he take it from me that it is no use trying to suggest that criticism of the Government comes only from Opposition Members, when employees and employers alike have written condemning the Government for...
Mr James Lamond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of casualties in the event of war in the Gulf; and what medical treatment arrangements have been made.
Mr James Lamond: Given the tremendous response by the people of this country to the telethon in aid of the Save the Children Fund and the Government's claim to be acting in the name of these same people in seriously contemplating launching an attack which must result in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent children in the Gulf, does the Minister detect an irony in that?
Mr James Lamond: In trying to take to herself the credit for this historic agreement, has the Prime Minister forgotten that when Harold Wilson signed the Helsinki Final Act in August 1975, the right hon. Lady, who was Leader of the Opposition at the time, took that opportunity to attack the Helsinki Final Act in the most scathing terms and denounced Harold Wilson and the Labour Government for having agreed to...
Mr James Lamond: Does the Secretary of State realise that among the 90 per cent. about whom he was boasting who have begun to pay something towards their poll tax there are many elderly people and people on low incomes who cannot pay? They want to stay within the law and they pay what they can, but they cannot meet the full bill. Does he realise that no amount of tinkering with the poll tax will cure that...
Mr James Lamond: How can we hope to expand manufacturing industry when firms like Hurley-Moate and Cobden Chadwick in Oldham are falling like ninepins? Is the Minister aware of the comments by Mr. Peter Maybury, a past president of Oldham chamber of commerce and trade, who referred to the Government's lunatic economic policies and mickey-mouse financial structures? When will the woman in Downing street...
Mr James Lamond: What is the point of the Prime Minister trying to wrap herself in the union jack for electoral purposes—[HON. MEMBERS: "Better that than the red flag."]—and then coming to the Dispatch Box to tell the House that she is prepared to sell the working people of this country down the river by opening Britain up completely to free trade without any protectionism whatsoever, destroy the...
Mr James Lamond: The Foreign Secretary has spoken throughout his statement of the necessity for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, but he has not gone as far as several others in his party, including the Prime Minister, who have said that it is also necessary to destroy Iraq's nuclear weapons bases, chemical weapons and biological weapons. Has that part of the determination been dropped? How would we carry that...
Mr James Lamond: If the public sector of education is the lowest common denominator, that is an indictment of the Government who have been responsible for administering and running it for the last 10 years.
Mr James Lamond: Has the Minister recently taken the opportunity to shop in C and A, British Home Stores or Littlewoods, and has he tried to find anything British among their stocks of shirts, underwear and suits? Is he aware that it is difficult to buy British, even if one wants to do so? With the possible exception of Marks and Spencer, almost every multiple store makes it easy for our competitors to bring...
Mr James Lamond: I am following my hon. Friend's argument as closely as possible. Is he saying that his Committee has before it on average between 60 and 70 statutory instruments at every meeting?
Mr James Lamond: Is it not one thing to speak with the G7 countries about free trade but another to remember that the textile industry, for example, faces competition from countries which are not represented in that group and have shown no inclination whatever to liberalise their trade? If the negotiations are left to GATT, the textile industry may find that the multi-fibre arrangement has been eliminated...
Mr James Lamond: In an intervention, the Leader of the House claimed that he is not trying to restrict the debate to three hours, but is acceding to a request in a letter sent to him by the Chairman of Ways and Means asking that at least three hours should be devoted to the debate. In other words, the debate is likely to go on much longer. When we debated, in the distant past, the construction of the...
Mr James Lamond: I have listened to my hon. Friend's closely argued points. I noticed that he emphasised the need for hon. Members from areas which have been charge-capped to be heard. He presents a modest case. Hon. Members from areas which have not been capped also have something to say, because the implication for councils such as Oldham borough council is that they will be inhibited in their spending....
