Mr Robert Maxwell: As balance of payments considerations are of highest importance at least for the next three years, does not my right hon. Friend agree that import savings could make an immediate and much faster contribution than exports since we have to give such long credit terms?
Mr Robert Maxwell: I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
Mr Robert Maxwell: I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that it will suit the convenience of the House to take those Amendments at the same time. They are designed to clarify Clause 6(1) in two ways. First, the expression "capacity of a furnace" has been found to be open to more than one interpretation, and it is intended to make it clear that it refers to the volume of combustion space in the furnace and not, for...
Mr Robert Maxwell: I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment. This is a drafting Amendment, and I hope that the House will agree to it. With your permission, Mr. Speaker, may I say how grateful I am to all hon. Members for the help which they have given me in making it possible to get this Bill this far. It will provide for the country the same kind of clean air protection...
Mr Robert Maxwell: As is well known, I was born in Czechoslovakia—in fact, in that province of Czechoslovakia that the Czechs were made to cede to Russia after the last war, Ruthinia. I remember well the betrayal that I, though very young, and the whole nation of Czechoslovakia felt at being let down by Great Britain and France at Munich. There followed the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in due course and...
Mr Robert Maxwell: I hope that the hon. Member will forgive me if I do not reply to that point. For 30 years our people have had a special feeling for the people of Czechoslovakia because of the way in which we left them in the lurch at Munich. This makes it very important that everybody in this country should do what he can to support the Czechs today against this brutal Soviet oppression. The Government can...
Mr Robert Maxwell: Yes.
Mr Robert Maxwell: rose—
Mr Robert Maxwell: Except by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Robert Maxwell: Perhaps this will help the hon. Gentleman. Is he aware that some imports carry an immense added value when they are re-exported by virtue of the skill and enterprise of British workers and management, so that £1 worth of imports may end up as £100 worth of exports?
Mr Robert Maxwell: Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that I resent the imputation made by some hon. Members that I am a tool of any party? Furthermore, does he not agree that the Services Committee has not been given a chance to consider the matter before, but that we look forward to considering it?
Mr Robert Maxwell: I have been asked to reply. A 10 per cent. wage increase was awarded last autumn, and the wage structure of the Department is under review.
Mr Robert Maxwell: I am obliged to the hon. and learned Gentleman for his consideration for the staff. However, all right hon. and hon. Members are as concerned as he is about them and I assure the House that the Catering Sub-Committee has this matter very much in mind.
Mr Robert Maxwell: The pay conditions of the staff can and will be in due course further improved. We have the question of dining facilities being open to the public under consideration, but I cannot hold out hope that such a proposal will meet the approval of the Services Committee.
Mr Robert Maxwell: I entirely accept the assurance of the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Costain) that the Amendment is not of a wrecking nature. I must, however, with regret, resist it. My objection to it is simply that it is completely unnecessary, because it seeks to remove from the ambit of the Clause road works and the burning of certain specified substances. I am legally advised that there is...
Mr Robert Maxwell: This is a matter for legal interpretation. The legal advice which I have obtained makes it clear beyond peradventure, and I hope that in those conditions the hon. Gentleman will agree to withdraw the Amendment.
Mr Robert Maxwell: I beg to move Amendment No. 35, in page 2, line 3, leave out from 'the' to 'from' and insert: 'rates of emission of grit and dust'.
Mr Robert Maxwell: We are here considering a total of 20 Amendments and a new Clause all concerned with the same matter, namely, the application of the Bill to the emission of fumes. They fall into two separate sets, those suggested by the hon. Member for Londonderry (Mr. Chichester-Clark) and the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Costain), and those which I have suggested. They have a certain amount in...
Mr Robert Maxwell: This is merely a matter of legal interpretation. My legal advice is considered to be of the highest repute and qualification. Various interested bodies have been consulted and they think that this interpretation is right. That is not to say that the hon. Gentleman will not find another lawyer to interpret it differently. We sometimes make laws so that lawyers can keep busy.
Mr Robert Maxwell: I can only tell the Committee that I considered this with our legal advisers and that it is necessary. As the hon. Member knows, we have consulted all interested parties, in particular the C.B.I., whose approach to these matters is extremely responsible, and I should like to acknowledge that. However, as the hon. Member well knows, it also represents industry in this instance. As the C.B.I....
