§ 23. Sir F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Employment when he now expects the review on the law on picketing to be completed and its findings to be announced.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithMy right hon. Friend the Home Secretary very much hopes to make a statement in the next two weeks.
§ Sir F. BennettMeanwhile, interim remarks by Ministers suggest a preference for concentrating on enforcement of the existing law rather than remedying it. 229 Could my hon. Friend give some indication on this matter? Would he care to give us some idea whether the disgracefully violent scenes that we saw with regard to the North Files dispute in the West Country last night show the need for reforming the law or for better enforcement?
§ Mr. Smith1 would not comment on the latter point. As my hon. Friend may know, seven men have been arrested in that case, so it is sub judice. On his first point, he must await my right hon. Friend's report. The major problem is not so much the adequacy of the law as its enforcement and the need to improve general understanding of it. We have been considering what more can be done in this respect. I very much hope that my right hon. Friend's statement will point the way.
§ Mr. Edwin WainwrightWould the hon. Gentleman consider removing the causes of strikes? Would the Government agree to throw out the Industrial Relations Act? Would they also agree to approach the trade unions and the employers with voluntary measures by which they can settle the dispute which is now arising on wages, such as those of the ancillary workers in the hospitals?
§ Mr. SmithNot on the latter point. On the first point, the hon. Gentleman knows as well as anyone that there are many causes of strikes. If he examines its provisions carefully, he will find that the Industrial Relations Act, if properly applied and observed, can in fact militate against strikes.