Mr Arthur Tiley: That is also because Japan's wages have been much lower. I am sure that the right hon. Member would not wish for that here, or that our social services should have to be cut.
Mr Arthur Tiley: I am very glad to follow the hon. Member for Lichfield and Tamworth (Mr. Snow), because he and I were together in Japan about two years ago. I remember standing with him at the entrance to our hotel —the Imperial Hotel, in Tokio—during the latter part of our delegation's business there and watching the rain pour down as it does in Manchester—not Bradford, but Manchester. We were...
Mr Arthur Tiley: I am glad to confirm what my hon. Friend says, and I shall touch on it later. There is a lack of confidence in the negotiating machinery over which my right hon. Friend presides. This present Treaty could have grievous consequences for my city, and my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Mr. Hirst) was right to point to the great dangers to the textile trade inherent in its terms. The chief...
Mr Arthur Tiley: In view of the delay which is likely to take place in the building of this spur—for which there is no responsibility attaching to my hon. Friend who is merely carrying out the instructions of this House—may I compliment him on the work done on the A.1? There has been a remarkable transformation during the last few years. May I ask what he is doing about the single blockage left at Newark...
Mr Arthur Tiley: Will my right hon. Friend confirm that Leeds and Bradford are to be congratulated on their initiative and enterprise in building this aerodrome, and will he give it its blessing in every possible way, even if at the moment he cannot make a subsidy towards the enterprise?
Mr Arthur Tiley: I begin by declaring my interest in the debate, as I normally do. I operate in insurance, although that has little to do with the debate, except in one or two aspects to which the hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman) has referred. He has made a bitter, arrogant and malicious speech—as he always does. It contained more rubbish about pensions than anything I have heard before in the...
Mr Arthur Tiley: That is the point that I am making. Contributions have risen, and to that the hon. Member for Coventry, East shouts "Hear, hear". He spent five or six minutes trying to persuade his hon. Friends to accept the idea that if we have pensions we have to pay for them. At least, he is frank about this. This is a picture which, for years, pensioners have not seen properly. The reason Why the...
Mr Arthur Tiley: I shall deal with that—[HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."] I shall not fail; I do not run away. I have made speeches in all pensions debates over the last seven years, and I shall deal with that question before I sit down. I want to make a constructive speech, and I shall do so, but I shall defend the things for which I have voted, and the things my party has been doing over the last ten years. We...
Mr Arthur Tiley: They will benefit in that, when they reach 65, their pensions will have been increased under the Tory Government—
Mr Arthur Tiley: They benefit by the joint pension for man and wife. We have not left the amount at 30s. The pensions have been increased, and those people will benefit. We did not put up the weekly contribution of the lower-paid worker to the same extent as the contributions of others were increased. It stopped at the £9 level—
Mr Arthur Tiley: No. I must get on with my speech—
Mr Arthur Tiley: The hon. Gentleman will, I understand, have the chance later to say lots of things. The graduated scheme gives the greatest benefits to the lowest-paid people. It made another important change. Contracted-out employees are dealt with under private schemes, and never again can one of those men cash his benefits if he leaves the firm. We have had experience in all private schemes previously...
Mr Arthur Tiley: No; I shall never get through my speech if I give way, and there is so much to say. It should give hon. Members opposite great satisfaction to know of the extra saving that is now going on but, of course, they cannot bear people who save. They are the great spenders. When did we ever see a Socialist Minister with a surplus? When the National Health Service scheme started, it was only £200...
Mr Arthur Tiley: I am grateful for your protection, Mr. Speaker, I have been in my place since half-past two, listening courteously to all the horrid things that hon. Members opposite have said about us, but now they cannot take it. I am grateful to you, Sir, but, in effect, you are protecting them, because now I shall be a little more careful. The self-employed would not join the scheme. If £90 million a...
Mr Arthur Tiley: I spent a few minutes this afternoon in pointing to the advantages of it, and I am willing to say now that it was a necessary step forward and that I am glad we had the courage to introduce it.
Mr Arthur Tiley: May I repeat the repeated request of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Mr. Hirst) not only that we should have a debate on the Japanese Treaty, but that we should have it quickly? Is he aware that the delay in discussing it is doing harm to the Government and to our trade in the West Riding?
Mr Arthur Tiley: Lest it be thought on either side of the House that the Committee worked for a year on these projects without any thought, may I advise my hon. Friend the Member for Louth (Sir C. Osborne) that we on the Committee knew each of the costings as we went along and approved them? Therefore, we have not acted blindly.
Mr Arthur Tiley: My right hon. Friend has said that one of the safeguards for the wool textile industry is that it can take action in the event of disruption being threatened, not actually occurring. Is my right hon. Friend taking further steps to make sure that he has the information in time to take that action? May I also press my right hon. Friend for a debate, because this Treaty, which concerns our...
Mr Arthur Tiley: Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that those whom many of us represent do not wish South Africa to stop buying our textiles; that because South Africa is buying our textiles the whole of my city is fully employed, including 30,000 coloured immigrants?
Mr Arthur Tiley: While the books are being altered and the necessary changes carried out, would it be possible for my right hon. Friend to consult the Minister of Health so that perhaps some form of certificate might be placed in the new books to enable those in receipt of National Assistance and other similar benefits to receive free medical prescriptions? The fact that these people must pay for them is one...
