Mr. ORMSBY-GORE asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what action the Government have taken since 1st August or now contemplate to assist Mauritius and the other islands mainly dependent upon the cane-sugar industry to deal with the financial, economic, and Social Crisis now obtaining in those Colonial dependencies?

Does the Minister realise that unless our preparations for dealing with this matter are vastly greater than they show any signs of being at the moment, we may find ourselves confronted with a Social Crisis at least as serious as any military crisis?

The United States and the Soviet Union are at opposite poles in This Social Crisis which, at present, is convulsing the world.

This is not only a Social Crisis.

There is a Major Social Crisis inherent in the present inflation.

The first of those factors is a profound change in our social habits and attitudes which, at different times in the past two decades, have amounted to a Social Crisis.

Like the hon. Member for Cornwall, North, I believe that behind and underlying the economic crisis there is also a Social Crisis - a crisis of values and of social attitudes - and that it is an illusion to think that we can overcome the economic crisis unless we are aware of the nature of the social crisis as well.

namely, that in a situation of Social Crisis the members of the NUJ, by virtue of their position within the media of information, would have a power totally disproportionate to their numerical strength and could exercise that power to seek to impose a totalitarian system upon the country.

The question which was presented most ably and vigorously by my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton (Mr. Magee) concerned a hypothetical situation; namely, that in a situation of Social Crisis the members of the NUJ, by virtue of their position within the media of information, would have a power totally disproportionate to their numerical strength and could exercise that power to seek to impose a totalitarian system upon the country.

There is either the option of laissez faire, blue in tooth and claw, taking this country through de-industrialisation to the brink of confrontation, Grave Social Crisis, and the abyss of slump, or - and it appears that this has not occurred to Conservatives - capitalist State intervention of State capitalism.

There is no doubt that the development areas face a major economic, industrial and, indeed, Social Crisis.

The unemployment of our boys and girls has reached a Major Social Crisis.

Varying degrees of Social Crisis may be attached to the personal hardship - it may depend on the age of the person, the composition of the family, where children are involved and so on - but for almost everyone, suddenly to live without lighting and, often, heating or a principal form of heating will cause considerable hardship.

We are experiencing more of a Social Crisis than an economic crisis.

Professor Greve's report, with others that came from the Duke of Edinburgh and the Archbishop of Canterbury's commission, show that there is incontrovertible proof of the Social Crisis that is facing inner cities.

Whenever there is Social Crisis, the education system is always attacked as the cause of - or at least for not being sufficiently active in solving - that particular crisis.

There are many areas where, if the Government had the energy and imagination required, great assistance could be given to ensure that many varied institutions, at a time of Social Crisis, get the support they deserve.

It is against that background of Social Crisis and economic failure that we have to judge this year's Queen's Speech.

Will the Leader of the House arrange for a special debate on the problems facing this capital city of London so that emphasis can be placed on the problems of homelessness, buses and trains, the health service and education spending and on the Serious Social Crisis resulting from high unemployment and the lack of a unified local authority for London that can tackle these serious problems?

What is being done to ensure that the Social Crisis that will ensue if those families are evicted on to the streets does not happen?

Would the hon. Gentleman like to comment on the fact that local authorities and the people of this country regarded as paltry and derisory the action taken by the Conservative Government to prevent house building, which led to a period of Social Crisis?

We are dealing with a Social Crisis that will not be resolved by a few scanners.

I do not say that the activity has gone so far as to constitute a Social Crisis, but we have the beginning of the end of the proper relationship between governed and government, and that is a catastrophe.

Another problem results from the epidemic; that is, the Social Crisis caused by the large number of children orphaned by AIDs and the need for programmes to help them and their families as their parents reach death.

However, at present, as we can all see, there is a Crisis in the Social rented market.

We in the UK face a Social Crisis as a result of the absence of fathers from the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.

We know that 20 Members of the United States Congress have said only this month: "We think it is inappropriate to accept this payment from Nigeria given the Social Crisis that country is facing".

There is a Great Social Crisis facing communities across the UK, and the UK Government cannot stand idly by.

I do not really want to get into a debate about the markets as I am also pro-market, but the markets are also Mr Hester, the hedge fund billionaires and the donors to the Conservative party who make a fortune out of speculation and who have so increased inequalities in the past 30 years that we now have a generalised Social Crisis that might cause severe dislocation.

As well as a Social Crisis this is an economic crisis that we will have to pick up, and we will rue the day that we lacked leadership in making sure we changed the situation.