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House of Commons
Wednesday 24 October 1990
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. Speaker-- in the Chair ]
PRIVATE BUSINESS
Shard Bridge Bill
Read the Third time, and passed.
STANDING ORDERS (PRIVATE BUSINESS)
Ordered,
That the Amendments to Standing Orders relating to Private Business set out in the Schedule be made.
SCHEDULE Standing Order 1
Leave out lines 72 to 75 and insert--
the term "water company" means a company appointed to be a water undertaker or a sewerage undertaker under Chapter 1 of Part II of the Water Act 1989'.
Standing Order 4A, as amended in 1986
Line 7, leave out a London borough or',
Line 16, after county' insert "metropolitan district or London borough'.
Line 23, after counties' insert metropolitan districts or London boroughs'.
Line 35, after county' insert metropolitan district or London borough'.
Line 38, after county' insert metropolitan district or London borough'.
Standing Order 7
Line 2, after specify' insert by reference to the deposited plans'.
Standing Order 10
Line 12, after county' insert metropolitan district or London borough'.
Line 20, after county' insert metropolitan district or London boroughs'.
Line 29, after county' insert metropolitan district or London borough'.
Standing Order 27
Line 62, after Office' insert one copy at the Health and Safety Executive'.
Standing Order 29
Line 6, leave out from thereon' to shall' in line 8.
Standing Order 32
Line 11, leave out from the' to and' in line 12 and insert principal regional office of the National Rivers Authority for the area containing the river or estuary affected'.
Standing Order 33
Line 4, leave out which is subject to the jurisdiction of a water authority'.
Line 9, leave out office of that authority' and insert principal regional office of the National Rivers Authority for the area containing the river affected'.
Standing Order 36, as amended in 1986
Line 11, at end insert with the proper officer of the district'.
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Standing Order 37Line 8, at end insert and another at the Department of the Environment'.
Standing Order 39
Line 18, leave out from beginning to at' in line 19.
Standing Order 42
Line 3, leave out within the area of any water authority'. Line 7, leave out office of the authority' and insert principal regional office of the National Rivers Authority for the area containing the water course affected'.
Standing Order 43
Line 7, leave out from the' to and' in line 8 and insert principal regional office of the National Rivers Authority for the area containing the river or estuary affected'.
Standing Order 45
Line 2, leave out from Office' to end of line 11.
Line 12, leave out from first bill' to second in' in line 13. Line 16, after estimate' insert signed by the person making the same'.
Line 19, leave out from beginning to and' in line 21.
Line 33, leave out subsection (4).
Standing Order 46
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 64
Line 17, after that' insert--
(i
(failure to comply with the requirements of Standing Order 62 (Consents of proprietors of statutory companies promoting bills originating in this House) or Standing Order 63 (Consents of members of registered companies, etc, promoting bills originating in this House) as applied by this Standing Order shall affect only such provisions as aforesaid, and shall not affect any other provisions of the Bill : and)
(ii
(that'.)
Standing Order 99
Line 1, leave out water authority or other'.
Standing Order 155
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 156
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 156A
Line 6, leave out from might' to under' in line 7 and insert be taken into account in determining the sums payable by way of Revenue Support Grant'.
Standing Order 156B
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 159
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 162
That the Standing Order be repealed.
Standing Order 191
Line 7, at end insert--
(c
(any community charge, or the non-domestic rate ; or'.) Line 8, leave out Rate' and insert Revenue'.
Standing Order 198
Line 7, at beginning insert In the case of a bill originating in this House'.
Line 9, leave out from time' to end of line 13.
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Standing Order 235Line 6, at end add and no Petitions other than those so deposited shall be received'.-- [The Chairman of Ways and Means.]
City of Dundee District Council Order Confirmation Bill
Zetland Masonic Sick and Widows and Orphans Fund Order Confirmation Bill
Read the Third time, and passed.
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Oral Answers to Questions
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
United States of America
1. Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit the United States of America to discuss American-European relations.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Douglas Hurd) : I have no firm plans for my next visit to the UnitedStates. I am in frequent touch with Mr. Baker, and last met him in New York on 2 October during the meeting of CSCE Ministers.
Mr. Marshall : Does the Foreign Secretary agree with his American counterpart that, in the light of the end of the cold war in Europe, NATO is increasingly likely to become a political rather than a military alliance? If so, what steps does he intend to take to further that change?
Mr. Hurd : Those steps were clearly set out at the July NATO summit held in London. We set out the military essentials of the alliance. We-- and, of course, the Americans and all the allies--intend to maintain the integrated command, the presence of substantial American troops on the continent of Europe and a sensible mix of nuclear and conventional weapons. We then went on to illustrate the change, in particular by holding out the hand of co-operation to eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Sir Peter Emery : Will my right hon. Friend go a little further? Does he realise that the North Atlantic Assembly is the only governmentally accepted body where American members of Congress and European Members of Parliament can meet? Although much consideration is being given to the military structure, the future of a body in which American members of Congress, Canadian Members of Parliament and European members can get together is of the greatest importance and is worthy of serious consideration.
Mr. Hurd : I know the importance of the Atlantic Assembly and the part that my hon. Friend plays in it. I certainly agree that such contacts, forming part of the political side of NATO's work, are extremely important.
Mr. John D. Taylor : As the IRA has extended its activities into many countries of the European Community, and as much of its funding comes from the United States--some of its blood money was probably used this morning in the atrocious attack on the Royal Irish Rangers in Newry and on another regiment in Londonderry, which no doubt the Foreign Secretary will take the opportunity to condemn--has the Foreign Secretary ever raised the question of funding by Americans for the IRA in Europe?
Mr. Hurd : Of course, I condemn this morning's tragic events in Newry and in Londonderry. We have often raised this point. When I was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I raised it when I visited the United States. The present Administration and the Reagan Administration before them, have taken as strict a line as
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they can within United States law to ensure that such contributions are not given in a way that could help the outrages about which the right hon. Gentleman is concerned. I agree that we need to keep those reminders constantly before the United States.Mr. Teddy Taylor : Does the Foreign Secretary agree that relations between America and Europe could be seriously undermined because of the failure of the EEC to put forward realistic proposals on agricultural expenditure? Does it worry my right hon. Friend, as Foreign Secretary, that, despite all the pleas that were made for strong action, the EEC is planning a substantial increase in its agricultural spending next year and that, once again, food mountains are growing to all-time highs?
Mr. Hurd : Yes, indeed. I made the first point strongly to my colleagues in Luxembourg on Monday. It is not sensible for the European Community and its leaders to suppose that they will attract much credibility when talking about economic and monetary union or, indeed, political union if they cannot produce a reasonable offer for the GATT negotiations. At the moment, the European Community is isolated. I believe that when examined at the negotiating table, the American offers will prove to have a good deal of fustian in them, but we cannot examine them at the negotiating table until we have a position of our own.
Mr. Kaufman : When replying to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, South (Mr. Marshall), the right hon. Gentleman referred with approval to the declaration made at the July NATO summit, which the Prime Minister signed. Does the right hon. Gentleman recall that in that declaration NATO endorsed a new NATO strategy making nuclear forces
"truly weapons of last resort",
and that those are the words of President Bush himself? Will the right hon. Gentleman explain why, in her speech in Helsinki on 30 August the Prime Minister said :
"Our first task is in reality to preserve the essentials of the present order. That means continuing to station nuclear weapons in Europe, without putting new constraints on them such as weapons of last resort'"?
As the Prime Minister signed that declaration and as she has disgracefully repudiated it, will the Foreign Secretary now uphold President Bush and repudiate the Prime Minister?
Mr. Hurd : The right hon. Gentleman has earned his reputation for selective quotation. He omitted-- [Interruption.] I see that some of his text is highlighted, but I am not sure whether that is the bit that he left in or the bit that he left out. I recall clearly our discussions at Lancaster house on this point and the balancing sentences and phrases that were used to safeguard the position of the Alliance. One thing that it must preserve is a sensible mix of nuclear and conventional weapons.
Middle East
4. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to meet the Foreign Minister of Israel to discuss the middle east peace process.
8. Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit Israel to discuss the middle east peace process.
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Mr. Hurd : I met the Israeli Foreign Minister on 16 October. We had a thorough discussion of middle eastern issues. I have no firm plans to meet Mr. Levy again, but we agreed to stay in closer contact in future.
Mr. Marshall : Did my right hon. Friend congratulate the Israeli Government on their actions in deactivating the Basra reactor? Without that action, the bloodthirsty butcher of Baghdad would have been able to threaten the whole world with a nuclear disaster.
Mr.Hurd : I take my hon. Friend's point, but I am not sure that the world would be a safer place if everybody acted as Israel did in that respect. Nevertheless, I take note of what I believe is my hon. Friend's point for the future. Iraq has obligations of great importance under the non-proliferation treaty and it is of crucial interest to the whole community--not just to Israel--that those obligations should be respected.
Ms. Primarolo : Given the disastrous results of the Foreign Secretary's attempts to clarify the Government's position with regard to the Palestinian problem when he was in Jerusalem recently, will the right hon. Gentleman take this opportunity to make a clear and unambiguous statement to Parliament on the Government's commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the west bank and the Gaza?
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