HC Deb 14 December 1967 vol 756 cc606-8
14. Mr. van Straubenzee

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will place a breathalyser in New Palace Yard for inspection by hon. Members.

Mr. Paget

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is there not a misprint in this Question? Should not the word "by" after the word "inspection" read "of"?

Mr. Taverne

A set of breath-testing devices has been placed in the Library.

Mr. van Straubenzee

Is there not a good deal to be said for law-abiding citizens like hon. Members to be enabled to use a breathalyser before driving a car?

Mr. Taverne

That is not something over which the Government have any control. There would be disadvantages. For example, there might be a temptation to drink up to the limit. Again, the breathalyser might not always be accurate in such circumstances since what a person drinks on one occasion may have a different effect from what he drinks on another. It depends on what he has eaten. I understand that the firm which produces the approved devices has announced that it will place large numbers on sale to the public.

Mr. John Hall

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that the Hampshire Licensed Victuallers Association considers that hon. Members should have a breathalyser test before an important vote is taken in the House?

Mr. Taverne

I have noted that suggestion among a number from licensed victuallers associations.

26. Mr. Costain

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the crystals in the phials of the alcotest, being yellow, do not greatly differ when changed to green, if a test is proved to be positive; and whether he will propose the use of white crystals to avoid any doubt.

Mr. Taverne

I am not aware of any difficulty in reading the immediate colour change. One of the chemicals essential to this device is yellow in colour.

Mr. Costain

Does the hon. and learned Gentleman realise that, seen in sodium or phosphate light, these crystals are difficult to identify and the police have been known to look at them in the light of a motorist's headlights? How does he know what the filament is in that headlight?

Mr. Taverne

It is perfectly true that in a certain kind of sodium lighting there may be some difficulty in reading the result, and the police have been advised to use the lights of a headlamp or a torch, but there are no chemicals with a white colour which would produce the required action when subjected to alcohol.

Sir G. Nabarro

Have we not reached a stage now when the whole of this complicated matter of the specification of breathalysers ought to be remitted to the British Standards Institution so that all users of breathalysers everywhere know that the product being employed is utterly reliable and in accordance with the Institution's recommendation?

Mr. Taverne

No one has been able to find any fault with the requirements which we have stipulated and the device which we have is the same as that which has been approved elsewhere and it is proving satisfactory in support of a very good law.

Mr. C. Pannell

Is the Minister aware that the only test in which most of us are interested is the reduction in the number of innocent pedestrians knocked down? Is he further aware that most of us want to rebut completely this over-sensitivity on behalf of drunks?