§ 23. Mr. WinnickTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received on the Green Paper, "Industrial Action and Trade Unions". [5803]
Mr. John M. TaylorThe Green Paper was published on 19 November and the consultation period lasts until the end of February next year. As I said earlier, to date I have received one representation—from the Trades Union Congress.
§ Mr. WinnickClearly the rest have taken no notice of the Green Paper, which is irrelevant to industry and its needs. Is it surprising that people are beginning to wonder whether the Green Paper is part of the Secretary of State's political agenda to build up his prospects of succeeding the Prime Minister as Tory leader?
Mr. TaylorTo take the slightly serious part of that question, will the hon. Gentleman share his thoughts about the irrelevance of the Green Paper with those who have been inconvenienced by strikes on the underground, strikes in the postal services, strikes on the railways and strikes by the fire service, not least in Derbyshire? If the hon. Gentleman wants to be trivial about that inconvenience, he can suit himself, but the rest of the British people do not think like that.