Cammell Laird Workers Imprisoned in 1984
Debate between Gareth Thomas and Dawn Butler(1 year, 9 months ago)
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Gareth Thomas
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that there is an urgency to this case. I welcome his support for the points that I am trying to make.
Dawn Butler (Brent Central) (Lab)
My hon. Friend is explaining powerfully that justice delayed is justice denied. We have members of the Cammell Laird 37 with us today in the Public Gallery. Is it not important for anyone watching or listening today that we have justice? It is about time. All the documents should be made public as soon as possible.
Gareth Thomas
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for her support for this debate. I absolutely agree with her concluding point, which I want to come on to in a little bit.
On balance, it is difficult not to conclude from the papers I have read that a significant group of Ministers in 1984 were so determined to drive through the complete privatisation of British shipbuilders, regardless of the wider economic and social consequences, that they decided that to achieve this, Cammell Laird had to close, and that any employee or union resistance had to be resolutely confronted.