Mr Patrick Wall: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You will be aware that for the last hour and a half we have been debating the Boothferry bridge and we have had a brilliant speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Scunthorpe (Mr. Brown). You will also be aware that the Boothferry bridge spans the river Ouse, which meets the river Trent and they both flow into the Humber. From the Humber...
Mr Patrick Wall: I am grateful, Mr. Deputy Speaker. If one were to take a coastal vessel under the Boothferry bridge down the Ouse or in the opposite direction, from Hull docks up the Ouse, one would find that most vessels are now going to the smaller ports on the river, as the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) pointed out. Why are they bypassing the important Hull docks? It is because...
Mr Patrick Wall: I addressed the House on a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr Patrick Wall: My first intervention, before you took the Chair, was on a point of order.
Mr Patrick Wall: I am sorry, I became confused as I had a point of order with your predecessor in the Chair, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You have now ruled that it would be in order to discuss the matter I raised on the point of order I made to you, and I hope that I shall catch your eye later.
Mr Patrick Wall: May I now make my speech, as I have caught your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker?
Mr Patrick Wall: Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. If you refer toHansard you will see that your predecessor in the Chair sked me whether I was on a point of order, and that I said that I was.
Mr Patrick Wall: I do not wish to pursue the matter further, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We are getting into a muddle. I understood that the first time that I addressed the House I was on a point of order because your colleague in the Chair said so. I raised another point of order with you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and you gave a ruling. I thought that you wanted me to continue. However, I have probably delayed the...
Mr Patrick Wall: I have a letter from Humberside county council, and I shall quote one paragraph. it states: I have written to Mr. K. McNamara, the Member for Hull Central, and Mr. A. V. Mitchell, the Member for Grimsby, to request them to open and close the debate, respectively on behalf of the County Council. I understand that we are discussing clause 10. I should like to know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, whether...
Mr Patrick Wall: Yes.
Mr Patrick Wall: I take it that we can debate only bridges, pilotage and rivers.
Mr Patrick Wall: For many years I have travelled over the Boothferry bridge and I am glad that there is now an alternative route over the river Ouse. It is not in my constituency and is the concern of the hon. Member for Goole (Dr. Marshall) and my hon. Friend the Member for Howden (Sir P. Bryan). Therefore I cannot contribute much to that debate. Another riverway is Beverley beck in my constituency——
Mr Patrick Wall: I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for that ruling. I shall defer to my hon. Friend the Member for Howden, whose constituency has a particular interest in clause 10.
Mr Patrick Wall: I am grateful for the explanation that my hon. Friend has given, but can he tell me whether there is any possibility of allowing the new legal sets to cover the CB frequencies so that people do not have to buy new sets?
Mr Patrick Wall: I am equally concerned. Will the hon. Lady appreciate that there are a large number of cheap, illegal AM sets, brought in from Japan and America, which cause trouble? With the new frequencies, although we disagree with many of the details, this will ensure that sets do not cause anything like the interference of illegal sets today.
Mr Patrick Wall: I am sure that the House will be delighted to know that citizens band radio will be legalised in 10 days' time. Thus, a Conservative Government have given our citizens the freedom of the air that they have been denied for so long. That is in direct contrast to the previous Labour Government who, just before the general election, said of CB radio: we remain, on balance, opposed to its...
Mr Patrick Wall: Leaving aside the continuous hostile attitude towards the Common Market by certain hon. Members, may I congratulate my right hon. Friend on doing his best to preserve the fish stocks in the North Sea? Taking the area as a whole, what proportion of the total allowable catch will be allocated to British fishermen? Is he satisfied that once foreigners have completed their quota they will stop...
Mr Patrick Wall: Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will bring the story up to date and quote from the report of the Select Committee on Defence. That shows that since 1977, when Marconi defence systems took over, Sting Ray has cost less than anticipated and has been ahead of time. That completes the hon. Gentleman's story.
Mr Patrick Wall: The hon. Gentleman will know that the United States has said that it wants us to have Trident, because it is a considerable reinforcement of the nuclear deterrent.
Mr Patrick Wall: Can my hon. Friend confirm that as 41 Commando has been disbanded there will be no further cuts in the Royal Marines?
