HC Deb 03 February 1972 vol 830 cc800-8

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Speed.]

10 p.m.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Reginald Maudling)

With permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement.

I have received a preliminary police report on the incident at Keadby power station which was referred to in the House this afternoon and I think it right, with the leave of the House, to give the information which is so far available to me.

I regret to have to confirm Press reports that a miner has died as the result of an incident today whilst he was taking part in picketing at Keadby, which is near Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. I understand that Mr. Frederick Mathews, whose home is near Doncaster, was one of a substantial number of pickets who were present when the rear part of an articulated lorry which was coming out of the power station gate mounted the pavement, knocking Mr. Mathews down.

The police are making inquiries and in these circumstances I clearly cannot make any further comment.

I am sure that I speak for everyone in the House when I express my sympathy for Mr. Mathews' relatives.

Mr. Richard Kelley (Don Valley)

I am sure that everyone on this side of the House will join with the right hon. Gentleman in his expression of sympathy with the relatives and friends of this unfortunate boy and in an expression of sorrow at this tragic accident. I am particularly concerned that my expression should be made known because I worked with this boy's father at Hatfield Main Colliery. He was a friend of my boys. I knew him very well and his four brothers, all of whom worked in the pit and were good, hard-working pitmen and good trade unionists.

This boy, in taking the action that he took, was doing what he thought he was entitled to do. I am sorry that in the statement there has not been mention of the fact that peaceful picketing is a lawful practice and that every person has a right to be on the highway whether he be a pedestrian or otherwise. I think it should be made known tonight that these people who drive lorries frantically through picket lines are endangering life and should be discouraged from doing so.

This boy's father died of pneumoconiosis. I was almost at his death bed; I visited him two or three hours before he died. His mother will be a sorrowing person tonight, but I have no doubt that that sorrow will be a tinged with a certain feeling that this boy was fighting for what his father always fought for as a good branch official of Hatfield Main Colliery in the National Union of Mineworkers.

There are millions of people outside who feel the same. I want no bitterness to go from this side of the House. I have been in contact with the people in charge of the whole of the picketing in the Doncaster area headquarters from which this boy went out this morning and they have expressed their desire that we should ask for understanding and a lessening of the hate which might be generated in some quarters as a result of this accident. It is unfortunate, but we wish that picketing shall continue in a peaceful way.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris)

Order. I think it should be quite clear that the proper proceeding for hon. Members is to ask questions. If they wish, they may make speeches, but I think it is the wish of the House that only questions should be asked of the right hon. Gentleman. He could reply to each question.

Mr. Maudling

I think the whole House will agree that this was a tragic accident, but in the circumstances we should not discuss whether the driver of the vehicle was blameworthy or not. That would not be appropriate in the circumstances.

Mr. Marcus Kimball (Gainsborough)

Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that this is a very unhappy moment for everybody in North Lincolnshire? I hope that he appreciates that all our sympathy will go out to this poor man's family. At the same time, I hope that my right hon. Friend understands the very difficult and tense situation which has been very tactfully handled throughout the last four weeks at this power station by the Lincolnshire Constabulary and all others involved in trying to keep it going.

Mr. Maudling

Yes, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he said.

Mrs. Shirley Williams (Hitchin)

First, may I associate myself with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Mr. Kelley) and the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Kimball) in an expression of sympathy with the widow and the four children of the gentleman who was killed. I also congratulate the police on their very swift action in this matter.

I have three questions to put to the right hon. Gentleman. First, does he intend to institute an inquiry into what is a disturbing matter? Secondly, is it known who are the owners of the lorry and whether there were any instructions to the lorry driver to break through the picket line? As my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Mr. Kelley) says, peaceful picketing is a legitimate activity in Britain and there is no indication that the man who was killed was in any way exceeding the general rules and regulations with regard to picketing. Thirdly, I ask the Government, in view of the understandable escalation of feeling on both sides in the miners' strike, whether they will not now take action before it is too late to intervene in order to get a settlement.

Mr. Maudling

The last point raised by the hon. Lady is not for me. Her first question was about an inquiry. The police are pursuing normal inquiries in the matter. Her second question related to instructions by the owners of the lorry. That point will clearly be examined by the police. The vehicle was leaving the power station, I understand, and not going into it.

Mr. Joseph Harper (Pontefract)

I, too, offer my sympathy to the widow and dependants of this unfortunate boy. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have in my possession information which says that the lorry was driven at a very high speed, scattering the picket line, and did not stop, and that the police followed it and did not stop it until a mile away from the scene of the accident? If these events are proved true, that is murder. A man evidently has been taken to the police station. What does the right hon. Gentleman intend to do in the immediate future to prevent any recurrence of tragic fatalities of this nature?

Mr. Maudling

I think the hon. Gentleman was wrong in making allegations of that kind. I cannot comment on them because I am awaiting the results of the police inquiry. I think that it is totally wrong for anyone to suggest that the driver or anyone else was doing something wrong unless there is evidence to that effect. I ask particularly that there should not be prejudice in this matter. Where there has been a very sad accident indeed, the normal and proper procedure should be followed whereby the police inquire into what happened.

Mr. Edwin Wainwright (Dearne Valley)

This is a most catastrophic event and my hon. Friends have sent our deepest sympathy to the widow and all the family and all their friends on this sad loss of a miner. I ask the right hon. Gentleman what action he intends to take now to try to prevent this kind of accident happening again before the results of the inquiry take place. Will he consider making a statement giving instruction to the chiefs of police in the various districts to make certain that drivers taking their vehicles in and out of these power stations pay due care and attention and drive carefully and slowly? Despite what the right hon. Gentleman said to my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin (Mrs. Shirley Williams), will he consider raising the matter with the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Employment and urging them to move into the dispute to try to get a settlement so that we do not need to have even picketing?

Mr. Maudling

It is quite wrong to assume any blame on the part of anyone concerned until the facts are established. The law about peaceful picketing is fully understood; so is the law about the driving of vehicles. To assume in any question that any individual has done something wrong is unfair and should not be done.

Mr. Alex Eadie (Midlothian)

We endorse the wisdom of the right hon. Gentleman in making a statement tonight on this tragedy. Is he aware that there are gaps in his statement and in the statement we have already received from the National Union of Mineworkers? On behalf of the Miners' Parliamentary Group, I send our heartfelt sympathy to to the widow and children of the lad who was killed. It is nothing new in the mining industry for us to weep without shame and to bury our dead. I know—I lost my father in the industry. The best tribute which the right hon. Gentleman could pay on the death of this lad is to use his influence on his Cabinet colleagues to arrive at some decision whereby a settlement could be reached in this dispute which the miners are having with the Government.

Mr. Maudling

It would be going beyond my statement to comment on the very serious industrial dispute in the mining industry. I would just repeat what is my responsibility to the House, to say that there has been a tragic accident and that the police are properly inquiring into what has happened. Until we know what happened I think, with respect, that comment is a little unwise.

Mr. J. D. Concannon (Mansfield)

The Home Secretary is expressing sympathy, but is he aware that some of us have foreseen something like this for at least a fortnight and have been trying to raise the question of picketing on the Floor of the House. I should like to put it to the Home Secretary that while instructions have been sent out about toughening up with pickets—and I have in mind some of the treatment which has been doled out to some of our mining fraternity, such as keeping them locked up, in some cases in handcuffs, overnight, on what one can only call trumped-up charges—I hope that after this he will send some instruction that pickets, while they have duties, also have some rights.

Mr. Maudling

I cannot at all accept what the hon. Member says. The enforcement of the law in this matter is in the hands of chief officers of police, who are not subject to instructions from my own or any other Ministry and who are carrying out a difficult duty extremely well.

Mr. Thomas Swain (Derbyshire, North-East)

Appreciating that the right hon. Gentleman is Deputy Prime Minister, I should like to bring to his notice a most significant paragraph in his statement—"doing his duty at Keadby power station". This man has lost his life in pursuance of doing his duty at that power station, and I ask the right hon. Gentleman to delve as deeply into this affair as he has delved into the affairs of other people in the United Kingdom after loss of life in pursuance of doing their duty, so that it will not only appear that we have justice in England but that we can absolutely project to the nation that justice has been done in the interests of the whole community.

Mr. Maudling

I cannot see in my statement the words which the hon. Gentleman attributes to me—"doing his duty". There was a tragic accident in which a man was killed and the whole House rightly expresses sympathy with the relatives and the bereaved family.

Mr. Swain

Sympathy does not buy bloody bacon.

Mr. Maudling

Yes, but we must also have regard to other people involved. It would be entirely wrong to prejudice the position of anyone else involved in the accident until the facts have been impartially discovered by the police. I must insist on that. I understand people's feelings but the police are doing the right thing in finding out how the accident happened.

Mrs. Shirley Williams

While fully appreciating the position of the police in this matter, may I press the Home Secretary on one point? At present we have pickets at most power stations in the country and the miners' strike is continuing Will he ensure that no instructions are given to lorry drivers to break into what are legitimate and peaceful picket lines in this country?

Mr. Maudling

I do not know to which instructions the hon. Lady is referring. The Government issue no instructions at all in this matter. The Government position is that the law of peaceful picketing is well known and well established, and the enforcement of the law resides in the hands of chief officers of police, who are handling a difficult task with tact and discretion.

Mr. Elystan Morgan (Cardigan)

On a point of order. Several times in his statement the Home Secretary referred to an accident. It may or may not have been an accident. All we know is that it was a fatality, and it may be that in future a coroner's jury or a criminal jury will have to consider whether it was or was not an accident. In such circumstances it would be proper for the Home Secretary to withdraw that remark.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

That is not a point of order. It is a matter for the Home Secretary.

Mr. Maudling

I took great care in replying to the first supplementary to say that the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Kelley) had referred to "a tragic accident" and, he having referred to it as an accident, I continued with the same phraseology.

Mr. Skinner

Is the Minister aware that in the week before Parliament reassembled after Christmas, in the first week of the strike, I witnessed an incident not unlike that which occurred today at Keadby power station. I forecast then that it would not be long before we saw a series of similar incidents, as a result of the police encouraging lorry drivers to step on it and to come out of the picket gates at high speed. Will the Home Secretary tell us what instructions have emanated from the many emergency Cabinet meetings at which the miners' strike has been discussed about the strengthening of pressure against the pickets? Is it not high time that he told the Prime Minister to go along to Hobart House, taking some money with him, to settle the strike and so make sure that there are no more tragic accidents of this kind?

Mr. Maudling

Ministers do not give instructions to chief officers of police about how they carry out the law. It is the responsibility of the police. We must be concerned, in this incident, not only with the tragedy and the loss to the family but also with the position of the driver of the vehicle. It is totally wrong to say anything in this House which assumes in advance of proper inquiry either guilt or absence of guilt, negligence or anything else. I appeal to the House. While we recognise the tragedy that has happened, it would be totally wrong to express any views upon it until the facts are known.

Mr. Adam Hunter (Dunfermline, Burghs)

I, too, extend sympathy on behalf of myself and my constituents to Mrs. Mathews and the family. Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied that the police officers are carrying out their duties in a tolerant and patient manner? Only yesterday I went to Battersea power station with some colleagues, where we heard several small complaints about police officers. The men had built coke fires to keep warm in this bitter weather, but the police took those coke fires away. The men had also made a makeshift wind-break to shelter them from the cold, but the police took it away. These are petty things which should not happen. Will the right hon. Gentleman instruct the police in London not to do this?

Mr. Maudling

I do not think that point arises out of this question. One hears complaints that the police are too restrictive and complaints that they are not restrictive enough. I have great confidence in the discretion of the police, who are responsible for carrying out very difficult duties. I think they carry them out extremely well.

Mr. Raymond Fletcher (Ilkeston)

Does the Home Secretary agree that picketing in this dispute has been conducted in a typically British fashion, peacefully and with the minimum of tension? Has he received any information in the last few hours that this tragic incident is ending that state of affairs and has created a new dimension to the dispute?

Mr. Maudling

No, Sir, I have not had any such information. I would deeply deplore it, and I can see no conceivable reason why that should happen. There have been incidents where charges have been made on which I cannot comment because the charges are before the courts. Broadly speaking, the picketing which has been carried out has been in accordance with the law of peaceful picketing. It would be deplorable if this incident, the facts of which as I have said are not yet known, should lead to the exacerbation of what is already a difficult situation.

Mr. Joseph Ashton (Bassetlaw)

Is the Home Secretary aware that his statement is not entirely satisfactory and merely confirms the Press reports which we have all read? Has the Home Secretary seen the report of the National Union of Minworkers which claims that the lorry forced its way to the power station and was immediately blacked by the power station workers, and will he investigate this matter and not merely accept the Press reports?

Mr. Maudling

I am sorry, but I must restrict myself to the facts reported to me. When a tragic incident like this has occurred, it is right for the police to investigate fully, as they are doing. It is totally wrong for anyone to comment until the facts are known.

Mr. Michael English (Nottingham. West)

Irrespective of these circumstances, and without asking the Home Secretary to comment upon them, will he remind the House of the duty of the driver faced with a person peacefully standing in the way of his vehicle?

Mr. Maudling

I do not think that it would be right to assume that that has any relevance to the circumstances of this incident.

Mr. Oscar Murton (Poole)

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Motion.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.