How far we have come

The views of Sir Cyril Osborne on homosexuality in 1966 during the debate to legalise it

Sir Cyril Osborne(Louth)

rose—

Hon. Members

Oh, no.

263

§Sir C. Osborne

I hope that hon. Members will not make up their minds, at least until they have heard what I want to say.

I beg leave to oppose the Bill and I will be brief. I believe that the Bill could have such grave social consequences that it is the duty of all hon. Members who are not already pledged to vote against it. I will give three practical reasons for so claiming. The first is that the sponsors have never explained why the Bill should not apply to the 600,000 men in the Armed Forces, nor how discipline will be maintained if private buggery is permitted to civilians and denied to the soldiers, sailors and airmen. [Laughter.] Hon. Members gave my opponent a fair hearing. I hope that they will give me one.

Nor have the sponsors explained how discipline could be maintained if this licence were given to our fighting men. I believe that the result of the Bill would be an increase in the very crime, the bestial habits, which the hon. Member for Pontypool (Mr. Abse) deplores. The very fact that the Bill would increase the penalties for crimes against boys under 16 and youths under 21 surely emphasises the immense dangers that could result if this filthy habit were to increase.

My second practical objection is this. I claim that the sponsors of the Bill have no mandate whatever for the Measure. I hold in my hand the three party election manifestos. The Liberals, the Conservatives and the Socialists did not put one word in their manifestos about this so-called homosexual reform. I therefore say that the sponsors have no mandate whatever for the Bill. Why was there not a word in the party manifestos? We are all politicians and we have all sought votes. The framers of our manifestos knew full well that the ordinary people of Britain, to whom we go for our votes, would not have stomached this proposal.

The hon. Member for Pontypool referred to the Army Act and to "disgraceful conduct" of "an unnatural kind". Ordinary people are horrified at the thought that this sort of thing might increase. I am certain that had it been put in the party manifestos it would have been rejected by the electorate.

264 The Bill would appear to give Parliamentary and public approval to this revolting form of immorality. Thus, I put it to the House that the sponsors of the Bill, who have previously claimed that there are about 1 million "homos" in this country, cannot really make that claim. I do not believe it. I do not believe that our country is as rotten as all that. It is an awful slur on the good name of the country to say such a thing.

Further, if this House is representative of the nation, it would mean that there are at least 30 "homos" in the House. [HON. MEMBERS: "Names."] The allegation comes from the benches opposite, not from me. I am denying it. it is exactly 21 years today that I first had the great honour of being made an hon. Member of this House. During those years I have had the great privilege of having friendships with hon. Members on both sides of the House.

Hon. Members

Oh.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

Order. I hope that the House will allow the hon. Member to proceed.

§Sir C. Osborne

Dirty minds come to dirty conclusions. I have never come across one case of a "homo" in this House.

How can the sponsors of the Bill be so certain that this practice is so widespread? Will the hon. Member for Pontypool say how many "homos" he has known in Parliament during his membership of the House?

The third practical objection I have to the Bill—[Interruption.] I regard this as a desperately serious matter and I urge hon. Gentlemen opposite, especially those below the Gangway, to take note of this—is that there is no Parliamentary time available for the Bill.

§>Sir Gerald Nabarro(Worcestershire, South)

Hear, hear.

§Sir C. Osborne

No Private Members' Bill can be made law unless the Government of the day find the necessary time. I have more confidence in the northern common sense of the Prime Minister than to believe that he would give Parliamentary time for this Bill, and thus have the odium of this dirty Measure tied to his party. [HON. MEMBERS: "Shame."] Shame or not, I am standing up for what 265 I believe to be right. The Government's timetable is already choked. Eight major Bills are already going through and more are waiting to go through.

Hon. Gentlemen opposite have from time to time complained that no Parliamentary time is available to discuss urgent public problems like Vietnam and the Common Market. We have not been able to discuss them because of the lack of Parliamentary time. Indeed, a week last Thursday the House was told seven times during one hour that the Government would like to bring in certain reforms, but that the necessary Parliamentary time was not available.

266

§ It is scandalous that the hon. Member for Pontypool and the sponsors of the Bill should claim that the private privileges of homosexuals should, from the point of view of Parliamentary time, come in front of the urgent matters which hon. Members want to discuss. I beg hon. Members, with my whole heart, to vote against the Motion.

§Question put, pursuant to Standing Order No. 13 (Motions for leave to bring in Bills and nomination of Select Committees at commencement of Public Business):—

 

Do Zombies have to pay Inheritance Tax?

No

Inheritance Tax is not payable by the living dead. Apart from life time transfers Inheritance Tax is only payable on death. Death is the complete cessation of all biological functions.
      The ability to walk about groaning and eating human flesh is clearly a biological function.
     If you remove the flesh eating bit, walking and groaning is a common phenomenon amongst men. Often greeted by a total lack of sympathy and much rolling of eyes from women.

Last chance for a lap dance?

Whether or not a person is self employed or an employee is an issue which continues to tease. Quite a few eyes were raised last year when it was held that lap dancers, who where paid by the punters, and not the club where they worked, were employees of the club. Stringfellow Restaurants Ltd v Quashie has now found its way the the Court of Appeal.
      Ms Quashie was a lap-dancer at Stringfellows who claimed she'd been unfairly dismissed.
The EAT decided she was an employee and that there was a contract of employment in existence on the nights that she danced.  She was required to provide her work personally and the club was obliged to provide her with work. Stringfellows had a degree of control over her because she was subject to the disciplinary regime of fines.
     The Court of Appeal have now stated that Ms Quashie was not an employee. Whilst she worked under a contract, and there were mutual obligations of some kind in place when she was actually working, the court held she had not been engaged under a contract of employment. The manner in which Ms Quashie was paid made it clear that Stringfellows were under no obligation to pay her anything at all.  Ms Quashie negotiated her own fees with clients and took the economic risk of being out of pocket on a particular night.
     The court concluded "It would, I think, be an unusual case where a contract of service is found to exist when the worker takes the economic risk and is paid exclusively by third parties."
      The case is interesting as it widens what is meant by mutuality of obligation. You may think if you are not paying someone they can't be an employee. Unpaid volunteers are not employees  We now have authority which states if a third party pays you are not an employee.
      However that's the law this week!


As always this is just my ramblings and isn't meant to be taken as 'legal gospel 'you can rely on. The law is a tricky business and you should always taken specialist advice.

Death Island Disc

It's a four hour round trip from Borley Green to Covent Garden, discounting the time spent staring at the departure board. So four hours to spend another two talking about death may sound a little strange.
          On the 26th November I visited the Wild Food Cafe in Covent Garden. A Death Cafe was being held there by Anja Saunders and Kate Hambleton. Thirty people sat in the cafe, ate and drank and shared their thoughts on life and death. It was a thought provoking and positive experience
          The quote of the evening for me was 'Today is a good day to die.' Had you lived your life as you wanted and achieved your goals? What about the important stuff, telling people you loved them and all the other stuff you mean to say but never do? No, today would not be a good day to die for me. Too much left unsaid and undone.
          Kate spoke about having a death song. American Indians had one they would chant throughout their lives and which would then give them comfort in times of adversity.
          What would be my 'Death Island disc' I speculated. Difficult to say, but it would have to bring a smile to my face, the King Louie song from the Jungle Book perhaps?
          A man sitting next to me, with some hesitation, spoke of the death of his father and of his love and loathing for him. Did it help I don't know. I've always found expressing my own thoughts out loud therapeutic.
          The evening throbbed with positive energy. A microphone passed round the room and people gave us glimpses of their lives and of their loss.
          A year to live, How would you live your life if you only had 12 months to live? It makes you think.
          We were asked to think about death. Do I fear death? No. Really? Not sure.
          Would I be sad if my children died absolutely. But would I have wanted to live without them absolutely not.
          Several people spoke of the deaths they had experienced, often quite sudden.
          The Death Cafe made it okay to talk about death, made it natural. After all we must all die someday.
          Well done to Kate and Anja for a great evening.

There are some very nice people in Bury St Edmunds

It's always nice to have your faith in your fellow man and woman restored. Both of my teenage daughters have come home crestfallen in recent weeks and announced they'd lost their purse on the bus.

          On both occasions purse and contents, have been returned intact. The second purse to go missing had more than £50.00 in it.
          So a big thank you to the nice people who handed the purses in and also to Galloways Coach hire, the drivers concerned and their lost property folk who made sure we got them safely back. Galloways staff we think you are terrific
          Thank you, you lovely people.  You are a source of inspiration in these troubled times.     
           And well done Galloways for employing such good people

To hydrate or not to hydrate that is the question?

Should you give food and water to a dying man? The simple answer is yes. But life isn't always simple. If you are dying then your desire for both is likely to be serverly diminished. As I blogged the other day newspapers have been full of headlines of elderly relatives been left by hospitals without food or water.
      If you look on the Internet there seems to be quite a lot of debate on whether or not to provide food and water to the dying. Particularly if it has to be administered by artificial means. For most if us we think of using a knife and fork when we eat and a glass to drink. We don't think of a tube placed through your nose and throat or directly into your stomach.
      Not nice to consider.  Don't most of us want a say on how we should be treated if the time ever comes?
     Living Wills or Advance decisions were big news a few years ago but have since retreated into the shadows. I set out below some notes I've prepared on what making an advance decision involves.
     You don't need to put your wishes in writing unless you want to refuse life saving treatment. An important thing not to forget.
     As always this is general advice. You should take specific advice on your circumstances before acting

Making and Advance Decision - "Living will"

 

 

1.       An advance decision is a written statement which states what medical treatment is not to be carried out or continued if you lose mental capacity.  It does not form part of your will and is a totally separate document to it.  It applies during your life whereas your will only comes into effect on your death.

Mental capacity means the ability to understand the affect of your decisions.  Can a person:

1.1     understand and make sense of what is being said to them

1.2     making a rational decision based on what they have been told

1.3     express or otherwise communicate that decision.

2.         An advance decision won’t apply where:

 2.1       Un-specified treatment

The advance decision must specify what medical treatment is not to be carried out.  It will only apply to specified treatments.  You can make a statement in general terms so long as your intention and wishes are clear.

 2.2     Absent circumstances

Any circumstances specified in the advance decision are absent.

2.3     Un-anticipated circumstances

There are reasonable grounds for believing that circumstances exist which you didn’t anticipate at the time of making the advance decision and which would have affected your decision had you anticipated them e.g. medical advances

 

2.4       No declaration as to life saving treatment

The advance decision won’t apply to life saving treatment unless it contains a specific statement that it is to apply even if life is at risk

 

2.5      It conflicts with a Personal Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

The advanced decision will become invalid if you later create a Personal Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney which would confer authority on the Attorney to give or refuse consent to the treatment to which the advance decision relates.

3.       Cancelling an advance decision

You can do this at anytime in whole or part.  Any cancellation does not need to be in writing

 

4.         What an advance decision cannot do

You are not permitted to:

 

4.1     Refuse basic nursing care essential to keep a person comfortable, such as washing, bathing and mouth care

 4.2     Refuse the offer of food or drink by mouth

 4.3     Refuse the use of measures solely designed to maintain comfort - for example, painkillers

 4.4     Demand treatment that a healthcare team considers inappropriate

 4.5     Ask for anything that is against the law such as euthanasia or assisting someone in taking their own life.

 5.         Making an advance decision known

Close relatives should be informed of the existence of such a document and its whereabouts. In the event of you being admitted to hospital for any life threatening illness then it is important that its contents are made known to the Doctors and Nurses who are treating you.  We recommend before finalising the Advance decision you discuss its contents and implications with your GP.

 6.         Other formalities

6.1.    The advance statement must be in writing. If you want to refuse life saving treatement

6.2.    The person making the statement must sign it and have their signature witnessed.  The witness must sign in the presence of the person making the statement.

 7.         Review your advance decision regularly

You should keep the advance decision under regular review to make sure it still covers your circumstances and doesn’t otherwise become invalid due to any of the grounds set out at paragraph 2 above.

Pathways at the end of life

Is the Liverpool Care Pathway a 'death pathway and scandal?' Are patients being put on a 'pathway to death' so the hospital gets more money? Or is it a scheme that is intended to improve the quality of care in the final hours or days of a patient’s life, and to ensure a peaceful and comfortable death?
    What rights do you have as to the manner of your own death?
    These controversial and other issues will be discussed at the next Death Cafe
 

An evening of life, death, cake and contemplation

28^th November 7.00 pm - 9.00pm

At Orchard Vale Borley Green Woolpit IP30 9RW

For a map go to the Contact us page at www.happyendingfunerals.com

What is the Death Café?

At Death Cafes people come together in a relaxed and safe setting to discuss life and death, drink tea and eat delicious cake.  The objective of Death Cafe is "To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives".

"Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." - Pope Paul VI, Italian pope, 1897-1978

The idea of running Death Cafes came from the work of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz. Jon Underwood has brought the idea to the UK.  The first Death Cafe took place in Jon's basement in September 2011. Since then Death Cafes have been held in the Royal Festival Hall, a yurt, cool cafes and people's houses. Over 200 people have so far attended a Death Café in the UK. The events have invariably been very special and feedback has been fantastic.

Death Cafes are always offered:

 On a not for profit basis though, to be sustainable, we try to cover expenses through donations and fundraising

In an accessible, respectful and confidential space, free of discrimination, where people can express their views safely

With no intention of leading participants towards any particular conclusion, product or course of action

Alongside refreshing drinks, nourishing food – and cake!

RSVP if you would like to attend (so we know how much cake we need!)

For more details call Nigel George on 01449 737582 or email ng@georgeandco.co.uk

 

Want to know more about the Death Café? Go to www.deathcafe.com