Mr Neville Sandelson: However late the hour, I make no apology for returning yet again to a subject of great concern to every family in Hayes and Harlington. I intend to be fairly brief, but I shall not mince words, as I feel considerable personal anger and frustration at what has happened over the years in the area that I represent. Time and again since I was elected in 1971 I have drawn attention, both in...
Mr Neville Sandelson: If someone breaks the law, however trivial the right hon. Gentleman may think the offence to be, why should not that person give his name and address?
Mr Neville Sandelson: I am on my feet and have listened with great tolerance and patience to the right hon. Gentleman's endless repetition of familiar facts. However, I and the whole country want to know what the right hon. Gentleman and his party will do. He should tell the country, because it has no faith in them.
Mr Neville Sandelson: rose—
Mr Neville Sandelson: asked the Minister for Trade when he expects to conclude his consultations following the Green Paper on copyright.
Mr Neville Sandelson: When does the Minister expect to have consultations with the Commission? Are the Government not showing a distressing lack of urgency in tackling the problem of video piracy, which is critical for manufacturers and retailers in my constituency and other parts of the country? Will the Minister consider introducing interim measures to protect copyright owners?
Mr Neville Sandelson: Is the Secretary of State aware that my right hon. and hon. Friends and I share his concern about the competence and motivations of the Greater London Council in this area? Will he accept that we condemn the proposed strike action, that we deplore the intransigence that is bringing it about and that we hope that even at this late hour common sense will prevail?
Mr Neville Sandelson: Do not talk rubbish.
Mr Neville Sandelson: Stop play acting.
Mr Neville Sandelson: The hon. Gentleman is not a serious person.
Mr Neville Sandelson: The order seems to my right hon. and hon. Friends to be eminently necessary and sensible. It is no exaggeration to say that Northern Ireland is deteriorating into an industrial wasteland. The proposals in the order will not halt, let alone reverse, the economic decline, but they will unite the various agencies and Departments engaged in the fight to rejuvenate the economy. The measures...
Mr Neville Sandelson: I wish that I could answer in the affirmative, because I believe that we are an Alliance or we are nothing. I hope that that comment will go beyond the Chamber. The order proposes organisational changes, but there is a limit to what they can achieve and to what we should expect of them. The substance of the problem will remain the same—how best to attract foreign investment and industry....
Mr Neville Sandelson: Does the hon. Member for St. Pancras, North (Mr. Stallard) agree that the Government should concede, in the present chaos, an inquiry into the financial structure of transport in our capital city, so that we can work out rationally a proper structure of subsidy or whatever is required for the future?
Mr Neville Sandelson: What is Labour Party policy?
Mr Neville Sandelson: Is the Secretary of State aware that my right hon. and hon. Friends give a broad welcome to the White Paper, albeit with guarded optimism? We shall look forward to a full debate on these matters after Easter. Questions arise concerning the mechanics of the way in which the Assembly will operate in practice. We shall seek to deal with some of them in the debate. Does the Secretary of State...
Mr Neville Sandelson: What about Afghanistan?
Mr Neville Sandelson: rose—
Mr Neville Sandelson: We shall have ample opportunity before long to debate the crucial issues of trade union reform, so tonight I shall be brief and limit myself to a few remarks on the order. Article 3, paragraph (3)(b), provides for payment in respect of secret ballots for election to positions of union leadership. That provision is greatly welcomed by my right hon. and hon. Friends. A democratically elected...
Mr Neville Sandelson: I am obliged to you for your interpretation, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was saying that it will now be for industrial tribunals to determine the extent of the indemnity, and that may in practice prove to be an unsatisfactory procedure. This article extends—[Interruption.] I point out to hon. Members that so far in this debate all right hon. and hon. Members have made their speeches in the same...
Mr Neville Sandelson: That may be so. We have yet to hear from the right hon. Gentleman before making a final judgment even about that. This article extends to contractors as well as employers and could give rise to a situation in which a union could face multiple claims—claims from the primary employer, contractors, and so on down the line. Nothing could be less conducive to improved industrial relations than...
