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Column 932

Loyden, Eddie

McAllion, John

McAvoy, Thomas

McCartney, Ian

Macdonald, Calum A.

McFall, John

McKay, Allen (Barnsley West)

McKelvey, William

McLeish, Henry

McNamara, Kevin

McWilliam, John

Madden, Max

Mahon, Mrs Alice

Marek, Dr John

Marshall, David (Shettleston)

Marshall, Jim (Leicester S)

Martin, Michael J. (Springburn)

Martlew, Eric

Maxton, John

Meacher, Michael

Meale, Alan

Michael, Alun

Michie, Bill (Sheffield Heeley)

Michie, Mrs Ray (Arg'l & Bute)

Mitchell, Austin (G't Grimsby)

Moonie, Dr Lewis

Morgan, Rhodri

Morley, Elliott

Morris, Rt Hon A. (W'shawe)

Morris, Rt Hon J. (Aberavon)

Mowlam, Marjorie

Mullin, Chris

Murphy, Paul

Nellist, Dave

Oakes, Rt Hon Gordon

O'Brien, William

O'Neill, Martin

Orme, Rt Hon Stanley

Owen, Rt Hon Dr David

Parry, Robert

Patchett, Terry

Pike, Peter L.

Powell, Ray (Ogmore)

Prescott, John

Primarolo, Dawn

Quin, Ms Joyce

Radice, Giles

Randall, Stuart

Redmond, Martin

Rees, Rt Hon Merlyn

Reid, Dr John

Richardson, Jo

Roberts, Allan (Bootle)

Robertson, George

Rogers, Allan

Rooker, Jeff

Ross, Ernie (Dundee W)

Rowlands, Ted

Sedgemore, Brian

Sheerman, Barry

Sheldon, Rt Hon Robert

Shore, Rt Hon Peter

Short, Clare

Skinner, Dennis

Smith, Andrew (Oxford E)

Smith, C. (Isl'ton & F'bury)

Smith, Rt Hon J. (Monk'ds E)

Snape, Peter

Soley, Clive

Spearing, Nigel

Steel, Rt Hon David

Stott, Roger

Strang, Gavin

Straw, Jack

Taylor, Mrs Ann (Dewsbury)

Vaz, Keith

Wallace, James

Walley, Joan

Wardell, Gareth (Gower)

Welsh, Michael (Doncaster N)

Williams, Rt Hon Alan

Williams, Alan W. (Carm'then)

Wilson, Brian

Winnick, David

Wise, Mrs Audrey

Worthington, Tony

Wray, Jimmy

Tellers for the Noes :

Mr. Ken Eastham and

Mr. Robert N. Wareing.

Mr. Deputy Speaker forthwith declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to.

Resolved, That this House commends the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on its achievements on behalf of consumers in the fields of food safety, food surveillance, and consumer information which means that they have wide variety and choice of wholesome foods at reasonable prices ; commends its comprehensive response to the emergence of health risks ; and commends its constant concern for consumers' interest in European Community negotiations.

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Column 933

Orders of the Day

City of London (Spitafields Market) Bill

Order for Third Reading read.

7.25 pm

Sir Geoffrey Finsberg (Hampstead and Highgate) : I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The Second Reading of the Bill took place on 12 May 1988. The Bill spent an extremely long time in Committee and there was not time before the Session ended, to proceed with the Third Reading, even in the spill-over. However, as hon. Members will recall, there was a revival motion and we now have the Third Reading.

It is right that I should briefly point out the ways in which the Bill before us differs from that of May 1988. On that occasion, the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) opposed the Bill because his constituents in Stratford market were unhappy. They are now satisfied and he has withdrawn his opposition, as has his local authority.

The hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) voted for the Second Reading of the Bill because he was content. I express it that way to show that there is cross-party support for the Bill.

The right hon. Member for Bethnall Green and Stepney (Mr. Shore) is fighting, as I hope I would, a stout-hearted battle as a constituency Member. I respect him for that because the prime job of all hon. Members is to represent their constituencies. The hon. Member for Bow and Poplar (Ms. Gordon) is taking exactly the same line.

As a result of hearings in the Opposed Private Bill Committee, three major changes appear in the Bill that seeks its Third Reading tonight. First, the annual payments for the training schemes have been increased from £50,000 a year to £150,000 a year. Secondly, the payment to the local community trust has been increased from £2.5 million to £5 million. Thirdly, the corporation of the City of London has undertaken to maintain the open spaces at Elder gardens in perpetuity, if the developers' interests cease.

I should like to make it clear that on the revival motion, the right hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney made two incorrect assertions which need to be corrected. He said :

"the Committee could not respond to the petitioners' central point, which was that the Bill should not be proceeded with. The Committee could not respond to that request, because the House had already given the Bill a Second Reading."

That is incorrect because a Committee on a local Bill can disallow that Bill, notwithstanding the fact that it has received a Second Reading, particularly if the Committee finds the preamble not proved. The Committee was not so constrained. The right hon. Gentleman also said :

"Almost any substantial market site has such problems".--[ Official Report, 1 December 1988 ; Vol. 142, c. 929-30.]

He was referring to traffic congestion but that is incorrect because Spitalfields has no fixed boundaries and is crossed by a number of public highways. The new site at Temple Mills will be fully enclosed, with one main entrance only. Market traffic will therefore come off the general highway network.

In column 931 the right hon. Gentleman raised the issue of possible changes in the plan. All that I can say is that

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