§ Mr. CookI beg to move amendment No. 68, in page 167, line 44, at end insert
'provided that no certificate issued to an applicant by virtue of this sub-paragraph shall be valid for a longer period than a year.'The amendment relates to a matter that was debated in Committee but goes back beyond that to the Chancellor's Budget Statement. He said that he wanted to make it easier for those who have recently left school or college to start a business. As reports of the Budget Statement record, that statement was followed by laughter.It has since emerged that, instead of providing that it should be easier for those who have recently left school or college to start a business, what the Chancellor of the Exchequer had in mind when he made the statement to the House was changing the provision so that young people could enter the building industry on the "lump" rather than as employees of a building contractor.
It is wholly fallacious to pretend that the provision will in any way bring about increased employment among young people—or, for that matter, anybody else—because it will not release one additional penny for added expenditure on construction projects, and will do nothing to remove the sharp reduction in demand in the construction industry that the Government have already engineered. All it will do is to permit young people who have managed to find a toehold in the construction industry to do so from the position of a self-employed small business man operating on the "lump" rather than as the employee of a building contractor.
Since the matter was debated in Committee, several hon. Members will have received a copy of the letter sent by the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress on 30 June to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which Mr. Len Murray makes precisely the same point. It says:
The Committee"—this was the TUC construction industry committee—believe that the changes in the tax deduction scheme will have little or no impact on the current levels of unemployment in the industry, much of which is directly related to successive cuts in the level of public sector spending on construction work.Although the letter came from the TUC, it is worth placing on record that anxiety about the proposal is felt on both sides of industry. The employers and trade unions in the construction industry wrote to every member of the Standing Committee on the Finance Bill to express their concern about the proposal and the extent to which it would undermine the training initiatives and the apprenticeship schemes on which both sides of the construction industry have already agreed.The matter should be of particular concern to all hon. Members, because the real argument for training in the construction industry does not rest solely on the obvious and very clear importance of ensuring a proper standard of workmanship and the control of quality, but rests on the urgent necessity—which I hope every hon. Member will recognise—to improve the appalling safety record of an industry in which nearly 200 people are killed every year. That was one of the points that the general secretary of the TUC emphasised in his letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In his letter of a fortnight ago, Mr. Len Murray said that the TUC construction industry committee
were also particularly concerned at the impact the changes in the scheme could have on the already poor health and safety 922 record in the industry. As you may be aware, construction is one of the most dangerous industries to work in, measured by the number of accidents and fatalities, and recent trends indicate little improvement. The proposed changes will encourage young people with little or no site experience to enter the industry without the benefit of supervision and training, and this in turn must pose a serious threat to health and safety standards within the industry. This threat is not just an increase in risk to the young people themselves, but to other workers on site who may be endangered by the Lack of experience.We anticipated the letter with the concern that we expressed in the Standing Committee. On that occasion we sought to prevent the Government from inserting the clause as a new clause into their Finance Bill. We were unsuccessful. We failed to sway a sufficient number of the Minister's colleagues to take the view that it was opening the door to workers entering the construction industry without proper training, without proper knowledge of the trade and without proper knowledge of their own safety rules.Therefore, we have not attempted on this occasion to strike the clause from the Bill. We have adopted what I hope the Financial Secretary will recognise as a more moderate approach, accepting that he has the votes to insist on the clause remaining in the Bill if he wishes to do so. We do not anticipate that, if we were to attempt to remove it, we would achieve a majority even of the small size achieved in the Division a few minutes ago.
We have therefore tabled this amendment, which will have the effect of limiting the length of the certificates to one year at a time. This would enable the Inland Revenue to have regard to the conduct of the person holding the certificate in the previous year before deciding whether to make an annual extension certificate. This is a prudent precaution because of the nature of the certificates.
The 714 certificates are available to those who have worked for three years in the industry. There is therefore an adequate basis in the normal run of cases to assess whether those who apply for the certificates have a good record of tax contributions and an adequate record of activity in the construction industry. Under the clause 714 certificates will become available to people who have no such record of three years work in the construction industry or three years payment of tax to the Inland Revenue.
It would therefore seem appropriate that in this case, and only in this case, there should be the annual bar of the requirement of the annual extension so that over three years the Inland Revenue can consider whether those who obtain the certificates without a previous record of tax payments have, by their conduct in the preceding year or the year before that, demonstrated that they will maintain tax payments through their work in the construction industry.
It is worth referring again to the letter of the general secretary of the TUC, who drew the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the implications of the scheme for the Inland Revenue and receipt of tax by it. Mr. Murray said:
The removal of certification requirements for school-leavers undermines the scheme, and may encourage unscrupulous individuals within the industry to try to exploit this loop-hole for their own advantage. This may well mean an increase in tax evasion.I hope that the Financial Secretary will be as anxious as the general secretary of the TUC to prevent tax evasion. Therefore, I hope that he will recognise that we have conceded that he has the clause in the Bill and has 923 sufficient votes to retain it there. Presumably, the Chancellor has decided not to accede to the request of the TUC to remove the clause. That being the case, the Financial Secretary should, in the spirit of compromise, be willing to accept the amendment which would at least go some way to ensuring that proper control is kept over those who succeed in obtaining a 714 certificate under the provisions of the clause.
§ Mr. RidleyI do not think that the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Cook) will expect me to take this amendment seriously. The suggestion that the certificates should be renewable every year instead of every three years is a concealed way of returning to this subject. Of that I make no complaint, but the hon. Gentleman cannot believe in the amendment. He must know that it would cause a great deal more administrative work and achieve nothing to protect the Inland Revenue. There are already plenty of checks.
The hon. Gentleman said that the general secretary of the TUC, whose letter I have not seen, believes that this is a way of exploiting a loophole. However, the weekly limit of £150 which can be paid to holders of the school leaver certificate without deduction of tax is a guard against evasion. The requirement that a certificate holder must provide a voucher before the contractor pays him without deduction helps even more. The hon. Gentleman will also be aware that Revenue officials check that vouchers are being used correctly before new voucher books are issued. That virtually closes any chance of abuse.
I would prefer these checks not to be necessary, because they circumscribe the opportunities for young men to start up and expand their businesses. These people are not all in their teens. They may be well into their twenties. There is no reason why they should not be allowed to start their own businesses or become self-employed in any industry. It puzzles me that the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central should seek to prevent them doing so in the construction industry. He put forward the argument about training as if training were a matter for the Inland Revenue. No industry in this country or any country requires that the ability to go into business or training should be determined by tests laid down by the tax authorities.
9 pm
The hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central, the TUC and builders are seeking to put these entrants into the profession at a competitive disadvantage by manipulating the fiscal system. The hon. Gentleman should be ashamed of himself. I am not surprised that employers and unions would like to exclude competition from the industry, but for the hon. Gentleman to have the desire to deny all opportunities for enterprise to young people, and to laugh—and laugh he did—at the possibility of even one person coming off the unemployment register to start his own business, shows the utter cynicism of a party that does nothing but talk about unemployment. The moment that there is a chance of taking one person off the register, that is their reaction.
The true nature of Socialist thinking is "Let us operate a closed shop by any means at our disposal, even by using the tax system as a licence to work." When the Chancellor 924 introduced this measure in his Budget speech, there was laughter from the Luddite part of the House of which the hon. Member is a distinguished representative.
§ Mr. CookThe Financial Secretary is either in urgent need of the July recess or has spent too long over dinner this evening. It is one thing to say that one will not take seriously the TUC or the building industry employers, as he plainly does not. It is another matter to say to the House that he, as a Minister, cannot be expected to take seriously an amendment on the Amendment Paper.
The House has a perfect right to expect every Minister who replies to debates to take seriously any amendment that an hon. Member has troubled to put on the Amendment Paper. It ill becomes the Minister to behave in such a supercilious and arrogant fashion and to pretend that an amendment is beneath his contempt. He draws his salary to take the proceedings of the House seriously. He should not scorn the proceedings of the House.
The laughter on the occasion of the Chancellor's speech was at the utter cynicism and hollowness of his claim that he would provide employment for young people in the construction industry. The Government have done more to destroy employment in the construction industry than any previous Government or any foreign enemy of the British people. I represent a region in which one in four construction workers are currently unemployed. There are more unemployed construction workers in Scotland than there are men employed in the Scottish mining industry, despite its importance to the British economy.
That is the level of devastation that the Government have created. To claim that they will provide employment opportunities in the construction industry deserves derisive laughter. This tawdry scheme does no such thing. It provides for people to enter the construction industry on the lump, rather than become employees of a building contractor. The motivation behind the clause is the hon. Gentleman's atavistic dislike of the system introduced by the Labour Government to control the lump.
The hon. Gentleman knows why the system was introduced. The lump is an abuse of the fiscal system. It is a way to evade tax. His psychological problem is that he cannot get over admiring any group of people who successfully evade the payment of tax. That is his dilemma. However he may try to shrug it off or wish it were otherwise, he now has a responsibility to safeguard the revenue. Instead of doing that, in the clause he is undermining the scheme introduced by the Labour Government because of his spite towards it. [Interruption.] I shall answer the Minister in the way that he answered me. If the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Mr. Beaumont-Dark) does not like the answer, he should ensure that he is not represented by Ministers who show the contempt that the Financial Secretary offered us in his answer.
I moved the amendment seriously and I expected the Minister to take it seriously. Both sides of the construction industry requested us to put down the amendment. [Interruption.] The Minister laughs. The contempt that he feels for the TUC and the construction workers whom he has put out of work is plainly what he feels also for the construction employers. The construction industry also expected the Minister to take the amendment seriously. I regret that we put down the amendment in its present form.
925 It would have been far better to have tabled the standard amendment to leave out the clause and to have voted upon it.
§ Mr. RidleyThat would have been out of order.
§ Mr. CookNo, it would not. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to claim to answer for the Treasury in the House, he should learn the orders of the House. If he looks at the Amendment Paper he will see that other such amendments have been selected, which I suspect he will find himself answering later. If he has not yet looked at the amendments for which I suspect he will be handling the Treasury brief, it demonstrates beyond doubt the contempt with which he takes the Report stage of a Bill for which he is responsible and to which his name is attached.
It came as a shock and an outrage to me to learn that a letter that the TUC general secretary had sent a fortnight ago to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the matter was not included in the Treasury brief for the Minister. Remarks will be made outside the Chamber about the revelation that either the letter has not been passed to the Minister or has been passed to him but has not been read by him, as he plainly has not read his brief on later amendments.
Had we tabled the amendment to vote against the clause we could have voted against the Minister's vulgar prejudices. But we have this amendment, and after the insult to the House we have no alternative but to vote on it.
§ Question put, That the amendment be made:—
§ The House divided: Ayes, 210, Noes 322.
928| Division No. 270] | [9.07 pm |
| AYES | |
| Abse, Leo | Cryer, Bob |
| Adams, Allen | Cunliffe, Lawrence |
| Allaun, Frank | Cunningham, Dr J. (W'h'n) |
| Anderson, Donald | Dalyell, Tam |
| Archer, Rt Hon Peter | Davidson, Arthur |
| Ashley, Rt Hon Jack | Davis, Clinton (Hackney C) |
| Ashton, Joe | Davis, Terry (B'ham, Stechf'd) |
| Atkinson, N. (H'gey,) | Deakins, Eric |
| Bagier, Gordon A.T. | Dean, Joseph (Leeds West) |
| Barnett, Guy (Greenwich) | Dewar, Donald |
| Barnett, Rt Hon Joel (H'wd) | Dixon, Donald |
| Benn, Rt Hon Tony | Dormand, Jack |
| Bennett, Andrew (St'kp't N) | Douglas, Dick |
| Bidwell, Sydney | Dubs, Alfred |
| Booth, Rt Hon Albert | Duffy, A. E. P. |
| Boothroyd, Miss Betty | Dunnett, Jack |
| Bottomley, Rt Hon A. (M'b'ro) | Dunwoody, Hon Mrs G. |
| Bray, Dr Jeremy | Eadie, Alex |
| Brown, Hugh D. (Provan) | Eastham, Ken |
| Brown, Ron (E'burgh, Leith) | Edwards, R. (W'hampt'n S E) |
| Buchan, Norman | Ellis, R. (NE D'bysh're) |
| Callaghan, Rt Hon J. | English, Michael |
| Callaghan, Jim (Midd't'n & P) | Ennals, Rt Hon David |
| Campbell, Ian | Evans, Ioan (Aberdare) |
| Campbell-Savours, Dale | Evans, John (Newton) |
| Canavan, Dennis | Ewing, Harry |
| Cant, R. B. | Field, Frank |
| Carmichael, Neil | Fitch, Alan |
| Carter-Jones, Lewis | Flannery, Martin |
| Clark, Dr David (S Shields) | Fletcher, Ted (Darlington) |
| Clarke, Thomas C'b'dge,A'rie | Foot, Rt Hon Michael |
| Cocks, Rt Hon M. (B'stol S) | Ford, Ben |
| Cohen, Stanley | Forrester, John |
| Coleman, Donald | Foulkes, George |
| Concannon, Rt Hon J. D. | Fraser, J. (Lamb'th, N'w'd) |
| Cook, Robin F. | Garrett, John (Norwich S) |
| Cowans, Harry | Garrett, W. E. (Wallsend) |
| Cox, T. (W'dsw'th, Toot'g) | Golding, John |
| Craigen, J. M. (G'gow, M'hill) | Gourlay, Harry |
| Crowther, Stan | Graham, Ted |
| Hamilton, W. W. (C'tral Fife) | Parry, Robert |
| Hardy, Peter | Pavitt, Laurie |
| Harrison, Rt Hon Walter | Pendry, Tom |
| Hart, Rt Hon Dame Judith | Powell, Raymond (Ogmore) |
| Hattersley, Rt Hon Roy | Prescott, John |
| Haynes, Frank | Price, C. (Lewisham W) |
| Heffer, Eric S. | Race, Reg |
| Hogg, N. (E Dunb't'nshire) | Radice, Giles |
| Holland, S. (L'b'th, Vauxh'll) | Rees, Rt Hon M (Leeds S) |
| Home Robertson, John | Richardson, Jo |
| Homewood, William | Roberts, Albert (Normanton) |
| Hooley, Frank | Roberts, Allan (Bootle) |
| Howell, Rt Hon D. | Roberts, Ernest (Hackney N) |
| Hoyle, Douglas | Roberts, Gwilym (Cannock) |
| Huckfield, Les | Robertson, George |
| Hughes, Mark (Durham) | Robinson, G. (Coventry NW) |
| Hughes, Robert (Aberdeen N) | Rooker, J. W. |
| Hughes, Roy (Newport) | Ross, Ernest (Dundee West) |
| Janner, Hon Greville | Rowlands, Ted |
| Jay, Rt Hon Douglas | Sever, John |
| John, Brynmor | Sheerman, Barry |
| Johnson, James (Hull West) | Sheldon, Rt Hon R. |
| Jones, Rt Hon Alec (Rh'dda) | Shore, Rt Hon Peter |
| Jones, Barry (East Flint) | Short, Mrs Renée |
| Kaufman, Rt Hon Gerald | Silkin, Rt Hon J. (Deptford) |
| Kerr, Russell | Silverman, Julius |
| Kilroy-Silk, Robert | Skinner, Dennis |
| Kinnock, Neil | Smith, Rt Hon J. (N Lanark) |
| Lambie, David | Soley, Clive |
| Lamond, James | Spearing, Nigel |
| Leadbitter, Ted | Spriggs, Leslie |
| Lestor, Miss Joan | Stallard, A. W. |
| Lewis, Ron (Carlisle) | Stoddart, David |
| Litherland, Robert | Stott, Roger |
| Lofthouse, Geoffrey | Strang, Gavin |
| McCartney, Hugh | Straw, Jack |
| McDonald, Dr Oonagh | Summerskill, Hon Dr Shirley |
| McElhone, Frank | Taylor, Mrs Ann (Bolton W) |
| McGuire, Michael (Ince) | Thomas, Dafydd (Merioneth) |
| McKay, Allen (Penistone) | Thomas, Dr R. (Carmarthen) |
| McKelvey, William | Thorne, Stan (Preston South) |
| MacKenzie, Rt Hon Gregor | Tilley, John |
| McNamara, Kevin | Tinn, James |
| McTaggart, Robert | Torney, Tom |
| McWilliam, John | Urwin, Rt Hon Tom |
| Marks, Kenneth | Varley, Rt Hon Eric G. |
| Marshall, D(G'gow S'ton) | Wainwright, E. (Dearne V) |
| Marshall, Dr Edmund (Goole) | Walker, Rt Hon H. (D'caster) |
| Marshall, Jim (Leicester S) | Weetch, Ken |
| Martin, M(G'gow S'burn) | Welsh, Michael |
| Mason, Rt Hon Roy | White, Frank R. |
| Maxton, John | White, J. (G'gow Pollok) |
| Maynard, Miss Joan | Whitehead, Phillip |
| Meacher, Michael | Whitlock, William |
| Millan, Rt Hon Bruce | Wigley, Dafydd |
| Miller, Dr M. S. (E Kilbride) | Willey, Rt Hon Frederick |
| Mitchell, Austin (Grimsby) | Wilson, Rt Hon Sir H.(H'ton) |
| Morris, Rt Hon A. (W'shawe) | Wilson, William (C'try SE) |
| Morris, Rt Hon C. (O'shaw) | Winnick, David |
| Morton, George | Woodall, Alec |
| Moyle, Rt Hon Roland | Woolmer, Kenneth |
| Newens, Stanley | Wright, Sheila |
| Oakes, Rt Hon Gordon | Young, David (Bolton E) |
| O'Neill, Martin | |
| Palmer, Arthur | Tellers for the Ayes: |
| Park, George | Mr. Derek Foster and |
| Parker, John | Mr. James Hamilton. |
| NOES | |
| Adley, Robert | Baker, Kenneth('St.M'bone) |
| Aitken, Jonathan | Baker, Nicholas (N Dorset) |
| Alexander, Richard | Banks, Robert |
| Alison, Rt Hon Michael | Beaumont-Dark, Anthony |
| Alton, David | Beith, A. J. |
| Ancram, Michael | Bendall, Vivian |
| Arnold, Tom | Bennett, Sir Frederic (T'bay) |
| Aspinwall, Jack | Benyon, Thomas (A'don) |
| Atkins, Rt Hon H.(S'thorne) | Benyon, W. (Buckingham) |
| Atkins, Robert(Preston N) | Best, Keith |
| Atkinson, David (B'm'th.E) | Bevan, David Gilroy |
| Biffen, Rt Hon John | Glyn, Dr Alan |
| Biggs-Davison, Sir John | Goodhart, Sir Philip |
| Blackburn, John | Goodhew, Sir Victor |
| Blaker, Peter | Goodlad, Alastair |
| Body, Richard | Gorst, John |
| Bonsor, Sir Nicholas | Gow, Ian |
| Boscawen, Hon Robert | Gower, Sir Raymond |
| Bowden, Andrew | Grant, Anthony (Harrow C) |
| Boyson, Dr Rhodes | Gray, Hamish |
| Braine, Sir Bernard | Greenway, Harry |
| Bright, Graham | Griffiths, E.(B'y St. Edm'ds) |
| Brinton, Tim | Griffiths, Peter Portsm'th N) |
| Brittan, Rt. Hon. Leon | Grylls, Michael |
| Brooke, Hon Peter | Gummer, John Selwyn |
| Brotherton, Michael | Hamilton, Hon A. |
| Brown, Michael(Brigg & Sc'n) | Hamilton, Michael (Salisbury) |
| Browne, John (Winchester) | Hampson, Dr Keith |
| Bruce-Gardyne, John | Hannam,John |
| Bryan, Sir Paul | Haselhurst, Alan |
| Buchanan-Smith, Rt. Hon. A. | Hastings, Stephen |
| Buck, Antony | Havers, Rt Hon Sir Michael |
| Budgen, Nick | Hawkins, Sir Paul |
| Bulmer, Esmond | Hawksley, Warren |
| Burden, Sir Frederick | Hayhoe, Barney |
| Butcher, John | Heddle, John |
| Butler, Hon Adam | Henderson, Barry |
| Cadbury, Jocelyn | Heseltine, Rt Hon Michael |
| Carlisle, John (Luton West) | Hicks, Robert |
| Carlisle, Kenneth (Lincoln) | Higgins, Rt Hon Terence L. |
| Carlisle, Rt Hon M. (R'c'n) | Hill, James |
| Cartwright, John | Hogg, Hon Douglas (Gr'th'm) |
| Chalker, Mrs. Lynda | Holland, Philip (Carlton) |
| Channon, Rt. Hon. Paul | Hooson, Tom |
| Chapman, Sydney | Horam, John |
| Churchill, W. S. | Hordern, Peter |
| Clark, Hon A. (Plym'th, S'n) | Howell, Rt Hon D. (G'ldf'd) |
| Clark, Sir W. (Croydon S) | Howell, Ralph (N Norfolk) |
| Clarke, Kenneth (Rushcliffe) | Howells, Geraint |
| Clegg, Sir Walter | Hunt, David (Wirral) |
| Cockeram, Eric | Hunt, John (Ravensbourne) |
| Colvin, Michael | Hurd, Rt Hon Douglas |
| Cope, John | Irvine, Bryant Godman |
| Cormack, Patrick | Irving, Charles (Cheltenham) |
| Corrie, John | Jenkin, Rt Hon Patrick |
| Costain, Sir Albert | Jessel, Toby |
| Cranborne, Viscount | Johnson Smith, Sir Geoffrey |
| Critchley, Julian | Jopling, Rt Hon Michael |
| Crouch, David | Joseph, Rt Hon Sir Keith |
| Cunningham, G. (Islington S) | Kaberry, Sir Donald |
| Dickens, Geoffrey | Kellett-Bowman, Mrs Elaine |
| Dorrell, Stephen | Kershaw, Sir Anthony |
| Douglas-Hamilton, Lord J. | Kimball, Sir Marcus |
| Dover, Denshore | Knight, Mrs Jill |
| du Cann, Rt Hon Edward | Knox, David |
| Durant, Tony | Lamont, Norman |
| Eden, Rt Hon Sir John | Lang, Ian |
| Edwards, Rt Hon N. (P'broke) | Latham, Michael |
| Eggar, Tim | Lawrence, Ivan |
| Elliott, Sir William | Lee, John |
| Ellis, Tom (Wrexham) | Lennox-Boyd, Hon Mark |
| Eyre, Reginald | Lester, Jim (Beeston) |
| Fairbairn, Nicholas | Lewis, Kenneth (Rutland) |
| Fairgrieve, Sir Russell | Lloyd, Ian (Havant & W'loo) |
| Faith, Mrs Sheila | Lloyd, Peter (Fareham) |
| Farr, John | Loveridge, John |
| Fell, Sir Anthony | Luce, Richard |
| Fenner, Mrs Peggy | Lyell, Nicholas |
| Finsberg, Geoffrey | Lyons, Edward (Bradf'd W) |
| Fisher, Sir Nigel | Mabon, Rt Hon Dr J. Dickson |
| Fletcher, A. (Ed'nb'gh N) | Macfarlane, Neil |
| Fletcher-Cooke, Sir Charles | MacGregor, John |
| Fookes, Miss Janet | MacKay, John (Argyll) |
| Forman, Nigel | Macmillan, Rt Hon M. |
| Fowler, Rt Hon Norman | McNair-Wilson, M. (N'bury) |
| Fox, Marcus | McNair-Wilson, P. (New F'st) |
| Fraser, Peter (South Angus) | McNally, Thomas |
| Fry, Peter | Madel, David |
| Gardner, Edward (S Fylde) | Major, John |
| Garel-Jones, Tristan | Marland, Paul |
| Ginsburg, David | Marten, Rt Hon Neil |
| Maude, Rt Hon Sir Angus | Shaw, Giles (Pudsey) |
| Mawby, Ray | Shelton, William (Streatham) |
| Mawhinney, Dr Brian | Shepherd, Colin (Hereford) |
| Maxwell-Hyslop, Robin | Shepherd, Richard |
| Mayhew, Patrick | Shersby, Michael |
| Mellor, David | Silvester, Fred |
| Meyer, Sir Anthony | Sims, Roger |
| Miller, Hal (B'grove) | Skeet, T. H. H. |
| Mills, Iain (Meriden) | Smith, Cyril (Rochdale) |
| Mills, Sir Peter (West Devon) | Smith, Dudley |
| Miscampbell, Norman | Smith, Tim (Beaconsfield) |
| Mitchell, David (Basingstoke) | Speed, Keith |
| Moate, Roger | Speller, Tony |
| Monro, Sir Hector | Spence, John |
| Montgomery, Fergus | Spicer, Jim (West Dorset) |
| Moore, John | Spicer, Michael (S Worcs) |
| Morris, M. (N'hampton S) | Sproat, Iain |
| Morrison, Hon C. (Devizes) | Squire, Robin |
| Morrison, Hon P. (Chester) | Stainton, Keith |
| Mudd, David | Stanbrook, Ivor |
| Murphy, Christopher | Stanley, John |
| Myles, David | Steel, Rt Hon David |
| Neale, Gerrard | Steen, Anthony |
| Needham, Richard | Stevens, Martin |
| Nelson, Anthony | Stewart, A.(E Renfrewshire) |
| Neubert, Michael | Stewart, Ian (Hitchin) |
| Newton, Tony | Stokes, John |
| Normanton, Tom | Stradling Thomas, J. |
| Ogden, Eric | Tapsell, Peter |
| O'Halloran, Michael | Taylor, Teddy (S'end E) |
| Onslow, Cranley | Tebbit, Rt Hon Norman |
| Oppenheim, Rt Hon Mrs S. | Temple-Morris, Peter |
| Osborn, John | Thomas, Rt Hon Peter |
| Page, John (Harrow, West) | Thompson, Donald |
| Page, Richard (SW Herts) | Thorne, Neil (Ilford South) |
| Parkinson, Rt Hon Cecil | Thornton, Malcolm |
| Parris, Matthew | Townend, John (Bridlington) |
| Patten, John (Oxford) | Townsend, Cyril D, (B'heath) |
| Pattie, Geoffrey | Trippier, David |
| Pawsey, James | Trotter, Neville |
| Penhaligon, David | van Straubenzee, Sir W. |
| Percival, Sir Ian | Vaughan, Dr Gerard |
| Pink, R. Bonner | Viggers, Peter |
| Pollock, Alexander | Waddington, David |
| Porter, Barry | Wainwright, R. (Colne V) |
| Prentice, Rt Hon Reg | Wakeham, John |
| Price, Sir David (Eastleigh) | Waldegrave, Hon William |
| Prior, Rt Hon James | Walker, Rt Hon P. (Wcester) |
| Proctor, K. Harvey | Walker, B. (Perth) |
| Raison, Rt Hon Timothy | Waller, Gary |
| Rathbone, Tim | Walters, Dennis |
| Rees, Peter (Dover and Deal) | Ward, John |
| Rees-Davies, W. R. | Warren, Kenneth |
| Renton, Tim | Watson, John |
| Rhodes James, Robert | Wellbeloved, James |
| Rhys Williams, Sir Brandon | Wells, Bowen |
| Ridley, Hon Nicholas | Wells, John (Maidstone) |
| Ridsdale, Sir Julian | Wheeler, John |
| Rifkind, Malcolm | Whitelaw, Rt Hon William |
| Rippon, Rt Hon Geoffrey | Whitney, Raymond |
| Roberts, M. (Cardiff NW) | Wickenden, Keith |
| Roberts, Wyn (Conway) | Wilkinson, John |
| Rodgers, Rt Hon William | Williams, D. (Montgomery) |
| Roper, John | Williams, Rt Hon Mrs (Crosby) |
| Ross, Stephen (Isle of Wight) | Winterton, Nicholas |
| Rossi, Hugh | Wolfson, Mark |
| Rost, Peter | Young, Sir George (Acton) |
| Royle, Sir Anthony | Younger, Rt Hon George |
| Rumbold, Mrs A. C. R. | |
| Sainsbury, Hon Timothy | Tellers for the Noes: |
| St. John-Stevas, Rt Hon N. | Mr. Anthony Berry and |
| Scott, Nicholas | Mr. Carol Mather. |
§ Question accordingly negatived.