HC Deb 24 July 1984 vol 64 cc909-10

Lords amendment:No. 4, insert the following new Clause— .—(1) It shall be the duty of every trade union—

  1. (a) to compile, by the date appointed under section 18(2A) of this Act, and thereafter maintan a register of the names and proper addresses of its members; and
  2. (b) to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the entries in the register are accurate and are kept up-to-date.
(2) The register may be kept by means of a computer. (3) Any duty falling upon a branch under this section by reason of its being a trade union shall be treated as having been discharged to the extent to which the union of which it is a branch has discharged that duty instead of the branch.

Mr. Gummer

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Speaker

With this we may discuss the following: Amendment (a) to the proposed Lords amendment.

Lords amendments Nos. 41 and 43.

Mr. Leigh

I do not wish to move amendment (a).

Mr. Ron Davies

I rise to oppose the Lords amendment. During the previous debate the House was treated to an example of the most crass, prejudiced and offensive smears that I have witnessed from Conservative Members. Their approach to the problem of trade unionism is to engage in smear and to trail lies and innuendo in an attempt to gain public support for their approach to industrial relations legislation.

I was disappointed that the Secretary of State did not take the opportunity to denounce, or at least to reject, the words of the hon. Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind), who referred to the Government inflicting industrial relations legislation upon the trade union movement. I was also disappointed that the right hon. Gentleman did not remind Viscount Cranborne, the heir to the Sixth Marquis of Salisbury—

Mr. Jerry Wiggin (Weston-super-Mare)

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. During today's debate hon. Members have referred to the other place as the House of Lords, they have referred to peers without giving them their title of noble and the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) has just referred to an hon. Member by his name. I hope that we shall retain our traditions.

Mr. Speaker

Order. An hon. Member was referred to by his title, which is not in order.

Mr. Davies

I apologise to you, Mr. Speaker, and to the House. I accept that I should have referred to the hon. Member for Dorset, South (Viscount Cranborne).

The hon. Gentleman is the heir to the Marquis of Salisbury and the Opposition need no lesson in democracy from someone who, in due course, will be elevated to the other Chamber, and who will take it upon himself to legislate on industrial relations.

Viscount Cranborne

rose——

Mr. Davies

I shall be happy to give way to the hon. Gentleman when I have finished my comments. I have already apologised to the House for the way in which I referred to the hon. Gentleman. I shall, of course, in future refer to him as the hon. Member for Dorset, South.

Viscount Cranborne

The hon. Gentleman said that he needed no lessons in democracy from the likes of me. Were it not for the unelected other place, the gratitude of his party would have been misplaced. He should be grateful to the other place for the favour that it has done his party in rejecting certain pieces of Government legislation.

Mr. Davies

I assure the hon. Gentleman that any gratitude on the part of Labour Members is temporal and will be replaced by a determination to ensure that the rules of democracy apply not only to the trade union movement but to the processes of government in Britain.

I oppose Lords amendment No. 4 on three grounds. First, the legislation was framed on the basis of the Government's minimalist approach. It was framed on the basis that the Government seek to ensure——

It being Ten o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.