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Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South): The Leader of the House will have heard the Deputy Prime Minister give an assurance that an incoming Conservative Government would not introduce assemblies in Scotland or in Wales. Will the Government begin to govern Northern Ireland at the same level as they are governing the rest of the United Kingdom? I have pressed for a meeting of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee for a long time. This week, a decision was taken by the Northern Ireland Office to scrap two education boards, against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the people in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Newton: I shall focus on the hon. Gentleman's request for a meeting of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee which, as I have said before, is under active consideration. Provided that we are sure that arrangements can be made that are acceptable to all parties in Northern Ireland, we will be happy to arrange for that. I hope that we will be able to do so before the summer recess.
Mr. Jacques Arnold (Gravesham): May we have a debate next week on early-day motion 1053, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South-West (Mr. Butcher)?
[That this House notes with sadness that for the first time in its history the TUC is led by a General Secretary who through his advocacy of early entry into EMU is prepared
to connive at an increase in unemployment, particularly in the manufacturing and traded goods sectors; regrets that the General Secretary is prepared to serve the interests of a European political elite at the expense of British and European trades unionists and other workers; and calls on the TUC to sack the General Secretary for his betrayal of his members' interests and lack of intellectual rigour in examining the pros and cons of EMU.]
It regrets that the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress proposes the return of Britain to the EMU in the immediate future. Is it not a shame to see--yet again, as in the days of old--the General Secretary of the TUC advocating policies that would damage the employment of his members in the manufacturing sector, purely so that he can follow the misguided policies of the Leader of the Labour party?
Mr. Newton:
The answer to my hon. Friend is yes.
Mr. Alan Simpson (Nottingham, South):
Will the Leader of the House arrange for a debate about the adequacy of the current voluntary agreement between the Government and the tobacco industry in light of some serious breaches of that code? On 3 August the Gallagher tobacco company will stage a rave dance event in Nottingham as part of the Renaissance Silk Cut tour. It openly advocates smoking and it will give away free cigarettes to the young people who attend the event. I wrote to the Minister in May complaining about the company's activities and I was appalled to receive a reply recently saying that the Government propose to take no action against that flagrant disregard of the terms of the agreement. The House should debate whether, in light of the Government's inaction, the voluntary agreement is an adequate means of pursuing a reduction in cigarette smoking among young people.
Mr. Newton:
I will bring the hon. Gentleman's remarks to the attention of my right hon. Friend.
Mr. John Marshall (Hendon, South):
May we have an urgent debate on early-day motion 1016?
[That this House welcomes the initiative of Her Majesty's Government in appointing Sir David Hannay as their special representative for Cyprus; and wishes him all success in the achievement of a just solution of lasting benefit to all the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus whatever their ethnic origin.]
Does my right hon. Friend accept that the continued division of Cyprus is intolerable and that it is wrong that people should be denied the right to live in the houses and in the villages where their families have lived for generations? Many people welcome the appointment of Sir David Hannay and we hope that some action will be taken in the not too distant future.
Mr. Newton:
I am grateful for the support of my hon. Friend and of others expressed in the early-day motion regarding Sir David Hannay's appointment. The Government are determined to strengthen our efforts to help to secure a negotiated settlement in Cyprus.
Mr. David Alton (Liverpool, Mossley Hill):
Like every other hon. Member, this morning the Leader of the House will have received from the hon. Member for
Mr. Newton:
I take that to be a public representation in advance of next week to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for National Heritage. I shall ensure that she hears of it. I must acknowledge that I have not yet had time to study the material to which the hon. Gentleman refers.
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (Colchester, North):
May I reiterate the requests of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) and my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers) for a debate on the sale of the married quarters estate? Would that not give us the opportunity to provide the assurances that people need in view of the anxieties that some in the House have whipped up unnecessarily in recent days? Would it not also expose the Opposition for what they are: a party that seeks a review of the policy but does not have a proper response to it?
Mr. Newton:
That is more impressive support for the Government's position. My hon. Friend is my constituency neighbour and I know that he represents the important garrison town of Colchester.
Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West):
When may we have a debate about ferry safety and particularly the dangers of the so-called roll-on/roll-over ferries? Is it not a disgrace that three quarters of our ferries are still as dangerous as the Herald of Free Enterprise and the Estonia? In that debate we could congratulate Norway, which has made safety improvements to all of its ferries. Why must we wait until 2002 before British ferries are protected in the same way?
Mr. Newton:
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman might like to put that question to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport when he is here on Monday 8 July.
Mr. Michael Connarty (Falkirk, East):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. On 11 June I was wrongly named by the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold) in an early-day motion. I had to wait two or three days until it was eventually amended. In the meantime, the hon. Gentleman had persuaded 30 Conservative Members, including seven knights of the realm, to sign his EDM.
I am deeply concerned to find 45 such motions on the Order Paper attacking individual Members--representing 5 per cent. of all EDMs this Session.
Would you, Madam Speaker, use your good offices to persuade hon. Members to stop these personal attacks? And if they make mischief, as the hon. Member for Gravesham does, would you ask them to name the correct Member and have the courtesy to write a letter of apology? I have yet to receive one from the hon. Gentleman for his misdeed.
Mr. Jacques Arnold (Gravesham):
Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. This refers to early-day motion 981, which includes a quotation from the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) in which he condemns the leader of his party, in the context of education policy, as saying, "Do as I say, not as I do."
I am at fault in that I thought the hon. Gentleman concerned represented Falkirk, East. Within two days it was pointed out to me that I actually meant the hon. Member for Falkirk, West; so I went to the Table Office and asked for the constituency to be corrected in the EDM. I also orally apologised to the hon. Member for Falkirk, East (Mr. Connarty) in--of all places--the Members' Cloakroom.
Madam Speaker:
The least I expect of all Members of this House when they go into print, especially on the Order Paper, is that they do their homework first and know which Member they are attacking. In other words, they must get it right.
Secondly, I have a copy of the early-day motion in front of me. It was signed by the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold) and 29 other Members. All I can say about those other Members is that they put their signature to the motion without knowing what they were signing. I deprecate that.
I also deprecate the personal attacks in these early-day motions and across the Floor of the House. Increasingly as we move towards a general election we are concerned with the policies of the parties in this House, not with individual Members or personal attacks on them.
3.54 pm
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