§ 2.48 p.m.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (LORD SHACKLETON)My Lords, with the leave of the House I should like to make a Statement about the supply of Parliamentary Papers. I am glad to be able to say that at the moment the situation appears to be virtually normal, and as your Lordships will he aware the necessary Papers for to-day's Proceedings are available. Copies of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Bill, which caused us some concern last week, have been available since Friday and I hope that those of your Lordships who have an interest in the Bill received them before the weekend.
§ LORD CARRINGTONMy Lords, I must thank the noble Lord the Leader of the House for his Statement. When he says that he is happy to say that the situation now seems normal, does he mean to say that the strike or go-slow, or whatever it was, is now settled; or does he mean that he is happy that things are working better? If the strike or go-slow is not settled, what steps are the Government going to take to see that it is settled or to take alternative steps to see that we get our Papers?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, my Statement was related directly to the receipt in your Lordships' House of Parliamentary Papers, and so far as that is concerned the situation is normal today. Clearly, it would be impossible, and indeed most imprudent, to give any undertakings. The Government are reviewing the situation most carefully. I am sure the House will appreciate that this is a delicate matter which raises most important principles, and I would not wish to be drawn any further on this, beyond saying that the Government must and do recognise, as the whole of the House does, that further delays and interruptions could be most serious. I do not think it 234 is for me to comment on the dispute, in regard to which there is an almost daily or nightly fluidity; but let us hope for better things. I hope that I have gone far enough.
§ LORD CARRINGTONMy Lords, with respect, the noble Lord has not gone anywhere at all; that is the trouble. I have asked the noble Lord on three separate occasions about this and I have been told on three separate occasions that it is most delicate. But nobody really knows what is happening. I have no idea whether it is a strike or a go-slow, or who is concerned in it, or who is trying to stop it. If it is not too indelicate would the noble Lord be so good as to make a Statement to the House as to what is happening?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, it is obviously no good giving the noble Lord hints because he is not sensitive to such advice. I would ask him, and again I would ask the House, not to press this matter. In any case, the situation changes. As I understand it, the trouble last week happened to be a go-slow; today, so far as I know, all is well. Obviously, the Government are actively concerned to do the best they can to ensure that things proceed in an orderly way. But the discussion on the Floor of the House of industrial disputes does not, on the whole, conduce to their easier settlement, and I am sure the noble Lord, from his experience when he was in the Government, knows this to be so. I really do say that it would be better, and in the interests of everyone, that I am not drawn into discussing the nature of the dispute; but I will go so far as to say that the union which I understand was particularly involved was SOGAT.