Hon. Anthony Berry: That does not really matter. The hon. Member makes a fair point, and we can all quote examples. deliberately used Lambeth as an example because I hoped that the Minister would rise to it, and he did. Mr. Jack Jones has suggested that the Prime Minister should appoint 50 life peers. Such a list would surely include the right hon. Member for Fulham (Mr. Stewart), the Father of the House, the...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I, too, welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate, not least because I spoke the last time that we debated the Highway Code, in November 1968, although at a rather later hour. Then, the House rose at 11.31 p.m. and the debate was curtailed, so I congratulate the Government on at least having put down the subject for debate at this time. But the Government have been slow in bringing...
Hon. Anthony Berry: My hon. Friend is right. Similar arguments are used in my constituency because the surface of the road must be adapted and all the rest of it. The Minister is present and he will have noted my hon. Friend's comments. There has been a change in the wording from that which appeared in the original on the question of advice to young children. Originally the wording said Do not allow very...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this very important constituency matter —the proposed closing of Grovelands Hospital. I am grateful to the Minister for coming here for this debate. He is known to have a sympathetic nature, in many ways, and I am sure that he will give close attention to the plea that I make on behalf of my constituents and many others, too. He will appreciate...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Clearly it is. I gave the Minister the figures to show that it has been regularly used over a long period.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Perhaps I may put two quick questions. First, will the Minister accept that there are inaccuracies in the document, and that therefore people are being asked to judge on inaccurate information? Secondly, what is the figure for the annual net saving?
Hon. Anthony Berry: rose—
Hon. Anthony Berry: I last spoke in a debate on London about four weeks ago, at about 12.15 a.m., and I then expressed the hope that we would in future debate London at a different hour. The hour is different, but it is not quite what I had in mind. The theme of the debate has been rather sad. The phrase "dying London" has been used in a number of speeches. One must accept that those hon. Members who use that...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman has quite understood the point about the amendments. There are also 200 Government amendments down for Report stage, and there are still more to come that we have not yet seen.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Mr. Berryrose—
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am glad to follow the Minister. His remarks contrasted greatly with the silence of Ministers last night when we debated another London Bill for three hours. There was complete silence from the Government Front Bench on that occasion, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman was not to blame, and I am grateful for his intervention. For the second night running, we are debating an extremely...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Mr. Berry (by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the killing of Mr. Ross McWhirter.
Hon. Anthony Berry: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for those remarks and particularly for his expression of sympathy. Is he aware that I find it almost impossible to believe that I am asking a Private Notice Question about an assassination in what I thought was a peaceful North London constituency? Is he aware that we will all wish to agree with his expression of the deepest possible sympathy to Mr....
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am glad to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead (Mr. Finsberg) because he and I are London Members, and like others, when we leave this place tonight we shall drive through the streets of London, and therefore we all ought to have an opinion on whether we should have compulsory headlights. We are grateful to the Minister for the view he has taken. I disagree with the way he...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Give way.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Both my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Page) and the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) referred to the terrible tragedy which took place only a few hours after our last debate on London Transport. I was one of a number of hon. Members some of whose constituents were injured or killed in that disaster. Such a disaster affects us all. The tragedy was almost made worse...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Before my hon. Friend leaves the question of lorry routes, may I ask whether he agrees that there is a great problem in that there are many roads, as I know in Southgate, which lorries are already using but which they should not be using because the roads are not wide enough? But now those roads are being designated as lorry routes because the lorries are already using them, so instead of...
Hon. Anthony Berry: We are grateful to the Chairman of Ways and Means for affording us this early opportunity of debating this important Bill. Whatever our views on the Bill, it is right that we should discuss these additional powers for London Transport. It strikes me as odd that whereas the 1969 Act was introduced and considered in the normal way, both in the House and in another place, tonight, when we are...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Yes. The Instruction says: That it be an Instruction to the Committee on the Bill, to remove from the Bill the power given to the Executive to manufacture for supply to outside persons. This is not a Government Bill, which is perhaps an indication of the measure of support it enjoys. I fear that any favourable reaction to it will be short lived. Whatever its parentage, and while I have no...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Yes it was.
