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§ Mr. Roland Boyes (Houghton and Washington)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the success of women this weekend in penetrating the cruise missile base at Greenham common.The matter is important because it demonstrates once again the terrible threat that the installation of cruise missiles poses, first, because we can be the subject of early strike by our enemies. The magnificent, courageous, self-sacrificing women at Greenham common have brought to our attention a further reason for concern—that missiles or missile heads cannot be protected all the time and could fall into the hands of our enemies or terrorists. By that I do not mean the present Government because they have declared a lack of interest. That was confirmed by a Ministry of Defence spokesman at the weekend who, in the Sunday Telegraph, had the audacity to say:All we know is we arrested the women at the place as stated. They could have roamed around the base, we just do not know.On one of the towers someone had painted the important notice "Greenham women are everywhere".The matter is specific because it relates directly to events this weekend at the Greenham common cruise missile base. The matter is urgent because events this weekend demonstrate the failure of the Secretary of State's policies. It is urgent because it demonstrates how wrong it is arrogantly to ignore the opinions of the British people as shown in opinion polls. It demonstrates how wrong it is to believe that the military can defend such bases 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The matter is urgent because the Secretary of State should resign since he is completely ignoring our wishes. The Secretary of State's incompetence is putting our lives in jeopardy. He should order United States commanders to collect their forces and missiles together and get the hell out of Britain.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Houghton and Washington (Mr. Boyes) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 10 to discuss a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent attention, namely,
security at Greenham common.I have listened carefully to the hon. Member, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10 and therefore I cannot submit his application to the House.