§ 4. Mr. Peter Fraserasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he proposes to take in view of the failure of Dundee district council to comply with the sale of council house provisions in the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980.
§ Mr. YoungerAfter considering the report of the public inquiry which I caused to be held on 23 February, I issued a default order on 23 March requiring the district council to instruct its officials to implement part I of the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act. As the hon. Member will be aware, the council gave the required instruction on 30 March. I have consistently made it clear that this Government will not allow any local authority to deprive its tenants of their statutuory rights, and our determination on this point has been clearly demonstrated in Dundee.
§ Mr. FraserI welcome the fact that the district council has quailed before the prospect of this question coming before my right hon. Friend. Does he not agree that the council's action has only caused misery and confusion to those tenants who wanted to buy their houses, and quite unnecessary expense to the ratepayers of Dundee who already face an enormous rates increase of over 150 per cent?
§ Mr. YoungerI agree with my hon. Friend. The least attractive aspect of this whole business has been the 939 absolute contempt which the Dundee district council appears to have for its electors and those who wish to buy council houses.
§ Mr. Ernie RossWill the right hon. Gentleman inform the House of the circumstances surrounding the inquiry? How many individuals or groups of tenants came forward during the inquiry in support of his determination to sell council houses?
§ Mr. YoungerIt is nice to see the hon. Gentleman back from his travels. The inquiry was not about that matter, but about whether Dundee council was or was not taking steps to implement its statutory obligations. It was on that basis that the matter was clearly resolved.
§ Mr. AncramDoes my right hon. Friend not think that the Dundee district council would be better occupied fulfilling the wishes of the people of Dundee to own their own council houses rather than shaming the whole of Scotland with its anti-semitic rantings and behaviour that we have seen over the last few weeks?
§ Mr. Youngerrose——
§ Mr. Ernie RossOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerWould the hon. Gentleman very much mind waiting until the end of Question Time? He can raise his point of order now if he wishes, but it will delay other questions.
§ Mr. RossIs it not a breach of the Rules of the House for the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Ancram) to suggest the democratically-elected Dundee district council is anti-semitic, when it made strenuous efforts to ensure——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman cannot answer the argument now. What was said was not out of order.
§ Mr. Youngerrose——
§ Mr. Robert HughesFurther to that point of order, Mr. Speaker.
§ Mr. SpeakerVery well. I shall take the point of order now and delay subsequent questions. I apologise to other hon. Members.
§ Mr. HughesWith respect, Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that it is in order, on a question relating to council house sales, for an hon. Member to refer to alleged anti-semitism. I am sure that that is an abuse of the House.
§ Mr. SpeakerHon. Members on both sides of the House refer to matters which are totally outside the question on the Order Paper. If I try to ensure—as I shall try to do for the rest of the afternoon—that nothing other than what is in a question is referred to, we shall get through many more questions.
§ Mr. YoungerI am not surprised that Labour Members appear to want to waste time to avoid reaching some of their later questions. Apart from the political issues involved, I doubt whether anyone of any persuasion would dream of denying that the Dundee council has not done itself much good in publicity terms in the last few weeks.
§ Mr. DewarDoes the right hon. Gentleman accept that it is not Dundee district council which has shown contempt for the electorate, but rather he himself in insisting on 940 going ahead with his ill-advised policy of council house sales? Given the Government's weak electoral base in Scotland, will he listen to the genuine voice of public opinion in Scotland rather than to the handful of tenants who wish to buy their council houses? The vast majority of Scottish tenants do not want to buy and are rightly angry about the divisive results of a sales policy which flogs off on the cheap the best council housing in Scotland.
§ Mr. YoungerThe absolute nonsense of that question is demonstrated by the fact that over 10,000 ordinary citizens in Scotland have already chosen to buy their houses and that there are a further 15,000 applications in the pipeline at the moment. That is an eloquent answer to the hon. Gentleman's nonsense.