§ Mr. Clement Freud (Cambridgeshire, North-East)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 breakdown in the teachers' pay negotiations.I listened carefully to the private notice question earlier this afternoon. Had I gleaned from it the least vestige of hope of a settlement or even a glimmer of flexibility on the part of the Secretary of State for Education and Science I should have withdrawn my application, but there was none and I therefore proceed with it.The matter is specific and important because in the next six weeks or so hundreds of thousands of pupils will sit their CSE and 0 and A-level examinations and the last few weeks before an examination might be said to be liable to be too crucial to the future of pupils. It is exactly the time when the co-operation of teaching staff is most required, and it is to be withheld.
The matter is urgent because the longer the dispute is allowed to continue, the harder it will be to mend the relationships between local education authorities and teachers and between teachers and their pupils. The Government are getting good value from the teaching profession and I ask that, before any more harm is done to our children, you allow the House to debate the subject.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Cambridgeshire, North-East (Mr. Freud) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the breakdown in the teachers' pay negotiations.I have listened with care to what the hon. Gentleman has said but regret that I do not consider the matter appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10. I therefore cannot submit his application to the House.