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Taylor, Sir Teddy (Southend, E)Temple-Morris, Peter
Thomason, Roy
Thompson, Sir Donald (C'er V)
Thompson, Patrick (Norwich N)
Thornton, Sir Malcolm
Thurnham, Peter
Townend, John (Bridlington)
Townsend, Cyril D. (Bexl'yh'th)
Tredinnick, David
Trend, Michael
Trotter, Neville
Twinn, Dr Ian
Vaughan, Sir Gerard
Viggers, Peter
Waldegrave, Rt Hon William
Walden, George
Waller, Gary
Ward, John
Wardle, Charles (Bexhill)
Waterson, Nigel
Watts, John
Wells, Bowen
Whittingdale, John
Widdecombe, Ann
Wiggin, Sir Jerry
Wilkinson, John
Willetts, David
Wilshire, David
Winterton, Mrs Ann (Congleton)
Winterton, Nicholas (Macc'f'ld)
Wolfson, Mark
Young, Rt Hon Sir George
Tellers for the Noes :
Mr. Irvine Patnick and
Mr. Timothy Wood.
Question accordingly negatived.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Motion made, and Question put,
That, at the sitting on Monday 26th July, Standing Order No. 54 (Consolidated Fund Bills) shall have effect as if for the words nine o'clock in the morning', in line 15, there were substituted the words eight o'clock in the morning'.-- [Mr. Michael Brown.]
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PETITIONS
Rural Unemployment (Scotland)
11.42 pm
Mrs. Margaret Ewing (Moray) : It is with great honour and humility that I present to the House-- [Interruption.]
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Janet Fookes) : Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady, but it is grossly discourteous for those leaving to make so much noise that the hon. Member who has the floor cannot be heard.
Mrs. Ewing : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
It is with humility that I present to the House a petition from my constituents in connection with unemployment in rural areas of Scotland.
Many of us believe that unemployment is the key issue for modern society. Without a job or the dignity of employment, and without the feeling that society cares, there is a sense of outrage in many areas. I dispute the idea that those who are not in employment are lazy, lack interest in employment opportunities and should be reduced to an unemployment scrap heap.
The petition is not selfish. It does not relate solely to my constituency but looks beyond it to highlight the distress and concern felt by families in many rural areas of Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom that many traditional areas of employment are being downgraded
Madam Deputy Speaker : Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Lady, but it is not in order to make a full-blown speech when presenting a petition. All that is possible is a summary of what the petition requires.
Mrs. Ewing : I am attempting to give a short summary of the issues involved in the petition.
The petition relates to traditional areas of employment within rural constituencies, especially in the north of Scotland, such as fishing, farming, distilling and forestry. It also relates to new areas where the implications of petroleum revenue tax changes on oil fabrication yards are of significant proportions.
More than 10,000 signatures have been collected in Morayshire in connection with the petition, which says :
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The Humble Petition of the people of Moray and elsewhere sheweth That we wish to express grave concern at increasing levels of unemployment ;
That there should be a united commitment to the objectives laid out in the Moray Charter for Jobs, in an attempt to counter the social and economic effects of unemployment in Moray and elsewhere. Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House will support and implement the proposals in the Moray Charter for Jobs. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
This is a sincere petition from my constituents and other individuals in the area surrounding Moray. We regard the matter against the background of the European Community's objectives 1 and 5b and hope--
Madam Deputy Speaker : Order. I am sorry, but I must bring the matter to a conclusion. Will the hon. Member bring the petition forward?
To lie upon the Table.
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Sub post offices
11.46 pm
Sir David Steel (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) : I have the honour to present a petition to the House signed by more than 4,000 constituents in the rural areas of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The Humble petition of the undersigned Residents of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale sheweth that we express deep concern that the Government propose to privatise post office services and compulsorily transfer Social Security payments from post offices to banks, and we oppose these measures jointly and severally as they threaten the very survival of sub post offices and deny the efficiency and convenience of the present system, especially in rural areas.
Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House will do everything possible to impress upon the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry and Social Security the need for an autonomous post office service in the public sector and to abandon plans for the transfer of social security payments to banks.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc. To lie upon the Table.
ROYAL ASSENT
Madam Deputy Speaker : I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified her Royal Assent to the following Acts :
Video Recordings Act 1993
Local Government (Overseas Assistance) Act 1993
Bail (Amendment) Act 1993
Local Government (Amendment) Act 1993
Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 Representation of the People Act 1993
Sexual Offences Act 1993
Road Traffic (Driving Instruction by Disabled Persons) Act 1993 European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993
Harris Tweed Act 1993
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Pollution (River Wear)
nd the Government announced their intention to close or mothball 31 pits. Among those listed were Easington, Vane Tempest and Westoe, in County Durham. The future of Wearmouth, in Sunderland, is also in doubt. Much has been said and written about the social and economic consequences of the decision to dismantle the British coal industry, but I wish to concentrate on an aspect of the closure programme that has attracted little attention-- the environmental impact.
I wish to discuss in particular the effect that the cessation of pumping at Easington would have on the River Wear, which runs through Durham and Sunderland and is one of the most beautiful waterways in the north of England. The Wear also provides much of the public water supply for the city of Sunderland.
When the closure plan was announced, Easington district council, with commendable foresight, commissioned a report on the probable environmental impact from Dr. Paul Younger, a lecturer in water resources at the university of Newcastle. Dr. Younger's conclusions were shocking. He said that the abandonment of pumping would cause the water table to rise and acidic, metal-laden water to be discharged into the Wear. The long-term effect would be catastrophic.
The natural flora and fauna of the Wear, part of which runs through National Trust woodlands, would be devastated, and the water supply to the city of Sunderland would be imperilled. Wildlife would be endangered, as would livestock grazing near the river. Use of the river by human beings for sports purposes would probably have to be restricted to wet weather, and there was also a danger that parts of the Durham and Sunderland coastline, which has some fine and well used beaches, would be contaminated.
In case anyone should imagine that British Coal would not be so irresponsible as simply to turn off the pumps and walk away, Dr. Younger drew attention to previous occasions when it had done exactly that. His first example was taken from the Fife coalfield, where the mines around Cardenden, Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline were closed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, resulting in what was known as the water table rebound, over an area of about 100 sq km. Within 10 years, acidic discharges began to appear at the surface, issuing from old adits, boreholes and fissures that had been forgotten.
Serious pollution resulted in the River Ore and in the Keithing burn, both of which ultimately flow into the firth of Forth. Ochre coated the banks and beds of the receding stream, and the acidic water killed or drove out fish. Abstraction from the Keithing burn by a paper mill was rendered impossible, and as the paper mill was the main employer in Inverkeithing, the economic impact was considerable. Acidic water also resulted in the corrosive undermining of the foundations of an overhead electricity pylon at Inchgall. The National Coal Board did not accept responsibility for the environmental impact, and the Forth river purification board did not have the finance to undertake any remedial action. The pollution continues to this day.
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About 18 months after the closure of the Dalquharran mine in Ayrshire in August 1977, when the pumping of mine waters was discontinued, there appeared in a small stream which flows into the water of Girvan a discharge of water containing iron, aluminium and sulphate. As in Fife, the discharge resulted in a thick coating of ochre covering the banks and bed of the stream. Aquatic life was devastated, with fish being killed even in the sea beyond the mouth of the water of Girvan. A food factory that drew water from the river had to close its intake permanently and seek alternative sources of water.The National Coal Board, as it then was, denied responsibility for the pollution, which continued unabated during legal proceedings brought against the NCB by the Clyde river purification board. Eventually, at an appeal hearing in February 1981, the board was found to be responsible for the pollution and was fined a mere £750. Some remedial action was taken afterwards, but this has been only partially successful, and pollution of the water of Girvan continues.
Dr. Younger said that the only way to avoid a similar disaster on the Wear, which would be virtually impossible to remedy once it had started, was to maintain some pumping at Easington.
In February, having read Dr. Younger's report, I wrote to the chairman of British Coal, Mr. Neil Clarke, and to the regional general manager of the National Rivers Authority, Mr. Roger Hyde, to invite their comments. Mr. Clarke replied suggesting that there was no cause for alarm. He questioned some of Dr. Younger's facts and assumptions and concluded :
"We will, of course, be maintaining these close links with the NRA to ensure that any adverse environmental impact is avoided." Mr. Hyde at the NRA painted a less rosy picture. The NRA had, it emerged, commissioned its own report from consultants, Wardell Armstrong.
According to Mr. Hyde's letter :
"This report confirms Dr. Younger's claim that large quantities of possibly poor quality water are likely to discharge into the river Wear and its tributaries. Most of these discharges will not occur for 20 years but some may occur within a year of ending"
pumping
"unless remedial action is taken."
Mr. Hyde went on :
"British Coal have so far refused to accept responsibility for any resulting pollution using the defence in the Water Resources Act 1991",
sections 88 and 89 of which exempt pollution caused by mine workings. It is on this that British Coal is seeking to rely. There was no mention of that in Mr. Clarke's letter to me.
Mr. Hyde concluded :
"The predictions of the impacts on the Wear are uncertain due to the complexity and the scale of the abandoned mine workings. We have urged British Coal to make available to us their summary mine plans which our consultants require to reduce the uncertainty of their predictions. So far British Coal have refused to release these plans.
Mr. Bill Etherington (Sunderland, North) : You will be aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, that my hon. Friend and I represent adjoining constituencies covering the urban area of what is known as the city of Sunderland. I do not know whether my hon. Friend is aware that, before the Kielder reservoir was built, most of the water supply of the town of Sunderland, as it was then, was provided by
Column 326
boreholes and pumping arrangements. When the reservoir was built, they were gradually abandoned. A small amount of water came from reservoirs that were well inland.When the Kielder reservoir was built, it put Sunderland's water supply in a vulnerable position, because, as my hon. Friend will be aware--
Madam Deputy Speaker : Order. Interventions at any time should be short. That is particularly so in a short Adjournment debate. I must ask the hon. Gentleman to conclude. We shall continue with Mr. Mullin.
Mr. Etherington : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker
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