Hon. Anthony Berry: No. I was saying that the bogus enthusiasm for the GLC elections claimed by this coupon is not borne out by the figures, which clearly show that the majority of Londoners do not bother to vote at GLC elections.
Hon. Anthony Berry: My hon. Friend is correct. The fact that London has twice as many Conservative Members as all the other parties put together is a clear sign of the voters' wishes.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Support for the Liberal Party and its representation in the House went down from two to one. The Conservative manifesto clearly showed that we would abolish the GLC.
Hon. Anthony Berry: That is a bit of a questionnaire, but I think that the answer is yes in every case. Certainly all the candidates knew that the abolition of the GLC was part of their policy. I cannot be certain that every candidate put it in his election address, because I have not seen them all, but I imagine that a large number did. I am sure that they made it clear to the electorate in their speeches.
Hon. Anthony Berry: I think that perhaps, to use lain Macleod's famous phrase, I should now intervene in my own speech.
Hon. Anthony Berry: That is very interesting and I thank my hon. Friend for his helpful contribution. The important thing about the general election was that we made it clear that the GLC would be abolished, and that policy was endorsed by the London electorate. It was different in 1966 when the then Labour Government, two years after the first borough elections for the new, larger London boroughs, suddenly...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I do not want to see nursery education abolished. I want to see it improved. My figures suggest that there is room for improvement. I want to see that in schools at all levels, and that is why reorganisation is needed. The same is true in the colleges. London has the highest ratio of non-teaching staff to pupils in the country. I expect that the hon. Lady would like to see that improved....
Hon. Anthony Berry: The police are doing an excellent job. The force is structured in the best possible way and has an excellent Commissioner. New schemes such as the neighbourhood schemes are proving of tremendous benefit. The hon. Member for Newham, North-West will know that a great deal of our constituents' money is being spent on propaganda — on the lush brochures, leaflets and magazines pouring out of...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I simply said that the hon. Gentleman was a representative of the GLC, which he is. I must say that I find £1·5 million an interesting figure and would like to know more about it. I suspect that that figure is rising. My borough, which is Conservative-controlled, is strongly in favour of the Government's proposals, as are all other Conservative-controlled London boroughs.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Yes, it does. The great majority of Conservative councillors are in favour of the Government's proposals. I wish to cite two examples to show why I say that the GLC is so distant from my borough. It plans to establish a bus contra-flow lane in Enfield town. That plan is opposed, even by the Labour GLC member. Everyone is opposed to it. Nevertheless, the GLC intends to go ahead with it. It is...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for offering to fight to the death for me, although I hope that he will not have to do so. I understand his argument. The GLC is so far removed from parts of London that it does not understand the problems. That is why transferring many of its powers to the boroughs will provide a local awareness of what is happening. Councils will know of the problems and...
Hon. Anthony Berry: The best thing for me to do is to quote the answer to a parliamentary question by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who said: As we made clear in our White Paper 'Public Transport in London' … the Government have always recognised the concern of London's pensioners that a joint scheme for concessionary travel should be available to them. The London Boroughs Association has agreed...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for adding to my argument. I must draw to a conclusion. My speech has been rather longer than I intended, but I hope that you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, will agree that it has not been entirely my own speech. We all make mistakes—even the hon. Member for Newham, North-West. One major mistake was the setting up of the GLC. Now, we are putting that right. The hon....
Hon. Anthony Berry: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the Christmas spirit, cannot we have one more question from an hon. Member who represents Enfield?
Hon. Anthony Berry: Last Friday morning I opened my post, including an envelope similar to the ones that I think Members of all parties receive from the different Whips' Offices, that told me what the business would be for this week. Suddenly I realised that for the first time for more than eight years I genuinely did not know what the business would be. I noted that on Friday there was to be a debate on London....
Hon. Anthony Berry: One reason I am pleased to be participating in the debate is to compliment my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond and Barnes (Mr. Hanley) on a remarkable maiden speech. Those who have known my hon. Friend for some years as I have will not be surprised by his maiden speech. Some of us came to know him well during the Lambeth, Central by-election, which he fought so outstandingly a few years...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Times do not change. We had one of those conversations that do not take place and we decided to restrict our colleagues to 10 minutes each. That is easier said than done. We received an enthusiastic response. Members said, "Oh yes, I shall certainly speak for 10 minutes." Having spoken for 22 minutes, one hon. Member said, "I was one minute long, wasn't I?" Ted and I did everything possible....
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. He did me a good turn a few months ago when he spoke for a whole hour. It was just what I wanted. I should like to pay one other tribute to a former colleague, who left the Labour party, so was not entirely popular with it. Ron Brown served it well over many years and took a leading part in our London debates. I was sorry to see him go. The right hon....
Hon. Anthony Berry: I shall not follow the hon. Lady on that course. She is wrong, and does not understand the problem, certainly not in my constituency. My hon. Friend the Member for Richmond and Barnes referred to the M25, as others have. I am delighted that the Government are pressing ahead with that. He referred to the north circular as though it were the opposite to the south circular. I agree that it is...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
