§ Mr. John Ryman (Blyth Valley)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 refusal of the National Coal Board to accept the strong recommendation of the independent colliery review tribunal with respect to Bates' colliery in Blyth.My submission can be made briefly, you will be pleased to hear, Mr. Speaker. Having sifted the evidence for days on end, an independent judicial tribunal, which was presided over by an eminent barrister, made a careful and reasoned judicial decision. It recommended that the pit in my constituency should be kept open and should not be closed, as proposed by the NCB.
Last Friday, the NCB considered the matter and, within five minutes, decided to close Horden colliery in County Durham, whose closure had been recommended earlier. After a four-hour debate, the NCB refused to accept the recommendation of the independent tribunal that the pit in my constituency should be kept open.
Urgent consideration of this matter is needed because the jobs of more than 1,400 men depend on the pit. They have been kept dangling by the chairman of the NCB who, with his usual nonchalant incompetence, has deliberately sought to flout the decision of an independent tribunal, having said in advance that it would give due weight to the tribunal's recommendations.
It is unique for one party in an arbitration case to refuse to accept a decision that is unfavourable to it and yet accept a decision that is favourable. That is what the chairman of the NCB has done. The result is that this pit, which has had a threat hanging over it for months on end, is to be kept waiting for many more weeks while the NCB chairman and his fellow directors ponder the matter afresh.
786 My respectful submission is that the NCB should accept the decision that was made after the evidence had been sifted and should put the men out of their agony. Many jobs in the coal mining community of Northumberland depend on this colliery. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, not to dismiss my application out of hand but to consider it carefully. The Government have shirked their responsibilities throughout. The Secretary of State for Energy and his junior Minister, who is sitting on the Treasury Bench—
§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)They are laughing. The Tories are laughing. Look at them.
§ Mr. RymanThe Secretary of State has failed to intervene at any stage, although on many occasions I have asked him to do so. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to allow me to raise this urgent matter, giving it priority over other business, because so many jobs depend on this colliery.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member 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 refusal of the National Coal Board to accept the strong recommendation of the independent colliery review tribunal with respect to Bute colliery in Blyth.
§ Mr. SpeakerIt is wrongly written down here. I should have said:
Bates' colliery in Blyth.I assure the hon. Member that I am not dismissing his application out of hand. He has been very persistent in this matter, but I regret that I must give him the same answer that I gave the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick). I do not consider that the matter he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10. I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House.