Mr Patrick Wall: Is it not a fact that the earlier vessels of the class had to have their hulls lengthened by some 40ft to improve their sea-keeping qualities? Is that very important modification not now to be carried out?
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the progress of the contact group on Namibia subsequent to the American initiative.
Mr Patrick Wall: Has the much more realistic policy of the new American Administration on this issue got the full support of the Government? Has the question of an independent Ovamboland on either side of the Namibian/ Angolan border been considered?
Mr Patrick Wall: As 70 per cent. of the escort forces in the Eastern Atlantic area are provided by the Royal Navy, would not any cuts in the strength of the Royal Navy's escort forces totally unbalance the entire NATO defences? What did the Americans have to say about this when my right hon. Friend was in Washington?
Mr Patrick Wall: In view of the comparative failure of the earlier five-Power negotiations, is not the proposal of the new American Administration much more likely to be brought to a successful conclusion? Will the Government back it 100 per cent?
Mr Patrick Wall: The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, West (Mr. Brown) started his speech by reminiscing about the years before the Second World War. I, too, have memories of those years. I remember the then Opposition voting, time and again, against rearmament. I remember the activities of the Peace Pledge Union, which to some extent led to Dunkirk, and as I contemplate the activities of CND and its...
Mr Patrick Wall: I am well aware of the history. The hon. Gentleman cannot deny that after the Stanley Baldwin period, up to the beginning of the 1939 war the then Opposition voted consistently against rearmament. The Peace Pledge Union had a considerable effect in the country as, in my view, unfortunately, does the CND today.
Mr Patrick Wall: We are looking to the present and the future rather than the past. I shall leave that particular red herring on one side. This is an unusual debate. We are not, as we normally are, debating the merits of the White Paper. It is an excellent White Paper, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on preparing and producing it. We on the Conservative Benches know that it is an interim document. It...
Mr Patrick Wall: Of course there are harsh realities; I quite agree with the hon. Gentleman. The Secretary of State knows that only too well. But both President Reagan and my right hon. Friend won the election by putting the defence of their country first. They were absolutely right to do so, and they now have to find means to carry out their promise. What should be done? If we are to save ourselves from...
Mr Patrick Wall: It has been stated that the political difficulties of reducing the BAOR would cause a much bigger row in the Alliance than the political difficulties involved in decreasing our ASW effort in Eastlant. The Brussels Treaty applies to the BAOR but no treaty applies to Eastlant. I do not believe this to be true, but the last thing that I want to do is to play one Service off against another. The...
Mr Patrick Wall: I should have thought that air power had been improved when the two tactical air forces were brought under one command. Much more can perhaps be done. I am sure that my right hon. Friend will say, however, that such proposals cost money and will ask where this money is to be obtained. I would argue that money is not everything. I believe that hon. Members on both sides of the House believe...
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a further statement on negotiations for a common fisheries policy.
Mr Patrick Wall: Much as we should like to see Spain join the EEC and NATO, would either course be possible unless the blockade of Gibraltar is lifted? Can my right hon. Friend confirm that under the legislation before the House Gibraltarians will continue to enjoy the right of entry into this country?
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a further statement on developments in the common fisheries policy and on the dumping of foreign fish in the United Kingdom.
Mr Patrick Wall: I thank my hon. Friend for standing firm against both the French and the Germans. Is he aware that fish merchants are complaining about a lack of fresh fish and that trawlermen are complaining that the prices are too low? How will he reconcile those two points of view before reaching agreement on a common fisheries policy?
Mr Patrick Wall: What positive action does my hon. Friend propose to take to prevent blackmail of individual sportsmen, as appears to be proposed by various neo-Marxist organisations?
Mr Patrick Wall: A strong case has been made out for some form of decasualisation. The hon. Member for Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) was right to point out that when the fishing industry was prosperous it did not want it. The skippers, mates and crews were earning quite good pay and were prepared to take the luck of the draw. Now, through no fault of their own, the industry—certainly the distant water industry in...
Mr Patrick Wall: I suggest that the House is making rather heavy weather of the Bill. There has been talk about a united industry. I have known the fishing industry for 26 years and have never known it united, unfortunately. We know that that is the history of the industry. If my hon. Friend accepts the advice that he has been given he will have a quango of at least 70 members. If we are to have...
Mr Patrick Wall: Mr, Wall rose—
Mr Patrick Wall: I am following the hon. Gentleman's argument closely, but I cannot see how, with a membership of 20, he will bring in all those in the industry whom he wants to be represented. If he has geographical representation, the total is more likely to be 70 than 20. Will he explain his figure of 20?
