INCREASE OF PENALTIES: SCOTLAND 1982 c. 45 (Hansard, 27 April 1990)

§ Mr. Bright

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

I thank various people who have helped to get the Bill through the House. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, West (Mr. Randall) for discussing the problems with me so courteously. That we have come to this arrangement shows that the normal channels, which do not usually work for private Members' business, have worked on this occasion.

I thank the Minister and Home Office officials for their work. I thank my sponsors who have stayed with me, although I have amended the Bill. I thank my private office, for whom the Bill has meant a great deal of extra work. I thank my wife Valerie and son Rupert for allowing me out all night one Saturday to do various bits of research on what acid parties are and their effect on the community.

§ Mr. Randall

First, I welcome the co-operation that has been evident during the passage of the Bill. As a result of that, we have a better piece of legislation.

No one in the House and certainly none of those Members who participated in the Committee are in any way against young people enjoying themselves. We want people to party, but we want to ensure that we protect the venues and that those who promote events do not feel that the risks are so great that they can no longer promote them. If that happened, we could lose a number of our traditional festivals.

The upshot of all this is that everyone has won except one group—the unscrupulous, nasty, illegal acid-house party organisers. They will lose as a result of the Bill.

I know that the Minister does not have too many powers on licensing, but that system must work effectively and properly. Having looked at some of the applications, I am convinced that there are no loopholes and that local authority action is effective, although not consistent throughout the country. I hope that the Minister will be able to send a note to local authorities to get them to gee up their licensing procedures where necessary so that we achieve consistency and effectiveness throughout the country.

I am glad to say that everyone has won—the country, the House of Commons and our people. Our young people will be able to enjoy themselves, but those who ought to lose out will do so.