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§ Mr. Don Dixon (Jarrow)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the decision just announced by British Shipbuilders that another 3,000 men are to be made redundant.This most recent savage blow dealt by British Shipbuilders falls clearly within the criteria of the Standing Order. The matter is specific because 2,100 of those who are to be sacked live in the Tyne area which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Great Britain. Most of those who are to be sacked live in the constituencies of my hon. Friends the Members for South Shields (Dr. Clark), for Wallsend (Mr. Garrett) and for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) and in my constituency of Jarrow.Having been born and bred in Jarrow, I well remember what happened in the 1930s when an organisation called Shipbuilding Security Limited came to Jarrow and closed the shipyard and the shipbuilding industry there. It threw my grandfather and father out of work. My grandfather never worked again and my father only got work again in 1939 when he was taken on to work for his king and country. That is what happened to the men who were thrown on the scrap heap in the 1930s.
The matter is urgent because, as we are an island nation, we need a shipbuilding industry since 90 per cent. of our trade is carried by ships. The Government should provide time for the House to debate the future of the shipping and shipbuilding industries.
The matter is important because the Government's policy is turning areas such as the Northern region into industrial deserts. The sooner the Government change their policy the better.
I hope that you will give this matter urgent consideration, Mr. Speaker. The people in the Northern region have always been law-abiding. They have always believed in democracy. However, the young people of our region are not so deeply steeped in democracy that they will accept the solution of the 1930s for the problems of the 1980s.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter which he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the decision just announced by British Shipbuilders that another 3,000 men are to be made redundant.I have listened with care and sympathy to what the hon. Gentleman has said, but I regret that I do not consider the matter which he has raised to be appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10 and I cannot therefore submit his application to the House.
§ Mr. Ray Powell (Ogmore)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Although I appreciate that you listened intently to what my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Dixon) had to say, I should like you to draw the attention of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House to the fact that they were deliberately ignorant in not listening to what my hon. Friend said.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is not a matter for me.
§ Mr. Ted Garrett (Wallsend)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am afraid that I did not catch your eye in regard to the application under Standing Order No. 10. Would it be possible to make an application under Standing Order No. 10 on the same subject next week?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Gentleman knows that, under Standing Order No. 10, a matter must be raised at the first available opportunity, as was the case today.