HC Deb 19 March 1975 vol 888 c1631
12. Mr. Crouch

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to see Oliver Cromwell outside Westminster Hall again.

Mr. Crosland

Early in 1977.

Mr. Crouch

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the presence of Oliver Cromwell standing outside this House was never so necessary as at this time as a reminder of the supremacy of Parliament, particularly when so many persons both in the Government and outside this House fail to appreciate where ultimate power resides?

Mr. Crosland

I am delighted to agree with the hon. Gentleman that Oliver Cromwell was a stern defender of our constitutional liberties.

Mr. Dalyell

If my right hon. Friend is seeing Cromwell shortly, will he have a word with him about Question No. 36 and get his advice on the practicality of hiving off the railways in Scotland to a Scottish Assembly?

Mr. Powell

Does the Secretary of State agree that the man who superseded the House of Commons would certainly be among the minority voting "Yes" in the forthcoming referendum?

Mr. Lipton

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that the Cromwell statue is in safe keeping because in a recent broadcast the hon. Member for Cornwall, North (Mr. Pardoe) said that Parliament was diseased, that we wanted a new Cromwell and that he was prepared to melt down the Mace for that reason?