I am not relying entirely upon my own judgment in a matter of this kind and I should like to quote for the House what a right hon and learned Member who cannot be said to be unfriendly to the Government recently wrote in the Belfast Telegraph. He said:

"Today after 20 years there was no sign of such a return to the Christian virtues. The moral disintegration continued unchecked, and the country, already on the slippery slope, was going downhill at an accelerating pace. Today Britain was morally at the lowest ebb in all her long history and they were touching depths never previously plummed." That was said by the right hon and learned Member for St. Anne's (Mr. Warnock), as reported in the
Belfast Telegraph of 23rd January, 1962.

Pages 35-36 1961

Mr. W. R. Boyd: (NI Labour) One can only say that despite this activity and interest in the workers engendered by this prodding either from behind or at the flank of the Nationalists they still cannot discuss the rights of the workers or anybody else without bringing in these old hoary charges and re-opening old sores. That is a thing against which I must once again protest. I protest against this business of trying to make it appear that discrimination is exercised by one section of the community only against the other, and that, in fact, unemployment is the lot of one section of the community only.
It is quite evident that discrimination is practised by people of different political and religious persuasions and I am quite sure in my own mind that there are Roman Catholic employers just as there may be Protestant employers who practise discrimination. It is not confined to one section. It may be that in Northern Ireland, since the majority of employers are of the main denomination, one has more cause to talk about it, but my view is the least said about these things the better for the progress, security and the future of our country and our people. There are so many
things we could do, so many things we could usefully talk about. As Members elected by the people to serve their interests we could very usefully give much more time to discussing the purely economic affairs of Northern Ireland without recourse to these old sores.
At the weekend about 700 workers were paid off from the shipyard. I am quite sure, as every hon. Member is quite sure, that the vast majority of those workers were Protestant, many of them from my own constituency, Woodvale, which is on the Shankill Road. I know my people are suffering unemployment but I am not going to say that my people are the only ones suffering unemployment. This matter should be treated on the basis of our Northern Ireland economy and not on the basis of any particular minority.
Again, we are told that Roman Catholics are denied employment because of their religion, but despite our probing we have never yet been told on what basis employment is to be offered. Are we, for instance, to decide that according to the basis of population so many Protestants and so many Roman Catholics will be offered employment in a firm? I do not believe in this kind of thing and I am sure that hon. Members behind me who voice protests in the matter would not wish to subscribe to this idea either. We have simply to forget about these things. Let the people live peaceably. Let us concentrate on the real, powerful economic factors in our community. Let us see how we can help all our people to become more prosperous, live more peaceably and bring greater stability and security to Northern Ireland.
We in Northern Ireland are at a disadvantage compared with the rest of the United Kingdom in so far as we are separated from the main market. We have our difficulties in the lack of raw materials and things like that, and there is always the idea at the back of certain people's minds that we ought to work for less. I shall be quite frank. I believe that the hard-headed Ulsterman already works harder than his counterpart in Britain. I am sure that if we were to ask anyone living across the Channel he would subscribe to the point of view that our people are more industrious. That is as it should be.

Mr. Scott: (Unionist) While thanking the Minister for his reply might I ask him whether he is aware that in many cases in Belfast a rent of £4 10s Od is imposed for the use of two small rooms with as many as five families sharing the toilet and bathroom? Would he not agree that this is exploitation by certain individuals due to acute housing shortage?
Mr. W. J. Morgan: I am not aware of some of the cases mentioned by hon. Members, particularly the one mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Bloomfield (Mr. Scott). I would remind the hon. Member that the Excessive Rents (Prevention) Act was originally enacted in 1941 to deal with abnormal housing problems arising from the air raids and that persons whose homes were damaged might be compelled to pay unreasonable rents for alternative accommodation.

Pages 135-136
W.R. Boyd (NI Labour) I am entirely and utterly opposed to the Common Market idea. It would be far better for our country to seek increased trade with the United States of America where there are almost 200 million people or on the other hand with the Soviet Union where there are over 200 million people. Here are two tremendous blocks in the world today where we could expand our trade.
Mr. W. R. Boyd: If Britain does, in fact, join the European Common Market it will break our close bonds of blood, race and culture with the Commonwealth. It will also break our economic ties. I believe that America is waiting to take over. I would reinforce what the hon. Member for Cromac said. The British Commonwealth is the greatest institution for peace and progress in the world. Not only for Ulster but for Britain the way forward is to increase enormously our trade which has been deplorably and disastrously allowed to go down the hill in recent years.

I do not think that that for which I ask would be using the flag in an unworthy manner. What is wrong in letting our children have before them on all school days the Union Jack, the flag of our country? At Parkgate school, near Templepatrick, which my youngest son attends, the Union Jack is raised every morning and taken in every evening. This is done by one of the pupils in the senior form, to which my son belongs. I think that this benefits the school, and it is only fitting and proper that what is done at the school at Parkgate, a local school, should be done at every other school.

I personally can see no reason why it cannot be done. I believe our children should be given the chance of understanding that this is the only symbol that can guarantee them the British way of life and secure for them a free and honourable and prosperous future. If it should ever happen that Northern Ireland should cease to be a part of the United Kingdom the Union Jack would lose its true meaning; so in maintaining our Constitution we are literally keeping this glorious and historic flag flying. I want it to be made perfectly clear today that it is the Government's intention to
keep this flag flying. Let our children see our determination in having it flown at all our schools.

If only our people were encouraged to be proud of our flag and Country.

Oh one can dream…

Stormont 1960 697-698.

Mr. Burns: North Londonderry. Does my right hon. Friend realise that in my own constituency I can call to mind 11 houses under the control of Limavady Rural District Council that have neither water, sewerage nor light, that these houses were built over 10 years ago and that this state of affairs occurs in many areas in the rural districts?

I was trying to find where Joe Burns had been speaking before about housing and saying that seventy-five houses had been built beside an Orange Hall. Out of these seventy-five only thirteen went to Protestants. This beside an Orange Hall! Of course McAteer came in with the old sneering,scoffing remarks again...'we should have got them all'

Then some people wonder why the Prods got fed up trying to please/work with them. What was the point. No matter what you did it was never enough, nor ever would be. It was another agenda they had.