| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Hogg: As I would expect, my hon. Friend is a powerful advocate for a constituency cause. I will pay careful attention, without commitment, to what she has said.
Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Port Glasgow): Why is the Minister so diffident about raising a legal action at the European Court of Justice? Everyone here knows that Spanish Fisheries Ministers do not share that diffidence. Does he accept that, had he made an early formal statement of his intention to go to the Court in Luxembourg, it would have strengthened his negotiating hand in Brussels and enhanced the British public's confidence in the Government's handling of the issue? If he seeks compensation at the Court, I hope that he will not overlook the plight of those who have already lost their jobs because of this scandalous affair.
Mr. Hogg: During the four or five weeks of the course of this matter, this is the first time I have been accused of being diffident. I have not been diffident about legal action--I have said that we intend to take legal action, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Robert Hicks (South-East Cornwall): I welcome the measures announced by my right hon. and learned Friend, which are designed to restore confidence not only in the beef market, but in the rural economy as a whole. Is he aware that the most urgent decision we now await is to extend the 30-months slaughter period for the specialist beef producer? Does he realise that, in Devon and Cornwall, it is that major concern that has led to the uncertainty over the past two or three weeks?
Mr. Hogg: I have considerable sympathy for my hon. Friend's point. I remind him of the top-up scheme, which will be of some assistance to the specialist herd producers. However, I agree that we need to work at an exemption with a view to agreeing one as speedily as possible. It is an important point.
Mrs. Helen Jackson (Sheffield, Hillsborough): In view of the concern of public and environmental health authorities about the spreading of blood and other animal fragments on agricultural land, will the Minister ensure that the "secure disposal" of the abattoir waste to which he referred will prevent any of it from being spread on
agricultural land as fertiliser in a way that would allow it to get into the food chain--or, even worse, the drinking water supply?
Mr. Hogg: That is an important point, and it is desirable not to confuse two facts. Specified bovine offal--now known as specified bovine material--is not in any circumstances spread on fields; it is destroyed. In the past, blood and gut--which does not contain SBMs--has been spread on fields. So far as we can judge, blood does not retain in it any BSE infectivity. That practice has been discontinued for the moment, and, if there was any desire to recommence it, one would certainly want to take into account the points made by the hon. Lady.
Mr. William Cash (Stafford): Will my hon. Friend reflect on the enthusiasm with which he has received Mr. Fischler's remarks in the past few days? Will he bear in mind the fact that he will of course be taking action against the European Commission in this action in the Court of Justice? Is it not therefore extremely unwise to give the impression that we are somehow supporting the European Commission, when the whole matter has been driven not only by them but by the other member states, producing a situation in which we have ended up with an illegal ban being imposed on the beef and dairy farmers of this country?
Mr. Hogg: My hon. Friend may have misunderstood me, in which case I am sorry; I am sure that the fault is mine. I meant to say that I very much welcomed Commissioner Fischler's statement that British beef is safe. That statement was also made by President Santer, which I welcome. Those statements are wholly right, and have been well made by the Commissioners. We are entitled to rely on those assertions by two leading Commissioners in support of our argument that the action taken by the Commission is illegal, not least because it is disproportionate, having regard to what Commissioner Fischler and President Santer have said.
Business of the House
4.41 pm
The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton): Madam Speaker, with permission, I should like to make a short business statement.
After discussions through the usual channels, the business for Thursday 18 April will now be as follows:
Second Reading of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Bill. A draft of the Bill is available in the Vote Office.
The business previously announced for that day will be taken on a later occasion.
Monday 22 April and Tuesday 23 April--Committee and remaining stages of the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Bill.
I will announce the business for the remainder of that week in my usual business statement on Thursday.
Mrs. Ann Taylor (Dewsbury):
I thank the Leader of the House for that statement and assure him that the Opposition understand the urgency associated with the Bill and generally welcome it as a necessary step towards all-party negotiations on 10 June. However, I am disturbed that the House has not been given proper notice and was not informed before the recess that this business might take place at this time.
The Leader of the House will be aware that, since the Jopling changes, on all occasions I have urged him to give as much notice as possible of future business, even on a provisional basis, on the understanding that some flexibility might be required. On that basis, hon. Members should have had more warning that this business might be slotted in this week.
Although we acknowledge the urgency of this measure, surely this would have been an ideal opportunity for a draft Bill and associated papers to be published earlier, as requested by my hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, so that all hon. Members could have had at least the Easter recess to consider its provisions. As there is general support for this measure among hon. Members and a genuine desire to get the legislation right, surely the Government could have adopted a more mature approach on this occasion rather than informing them at the last moment.
Will the Leader of the House assure us that proper arrangements will be made so that all hon. Members are able to table amendments--including, if necessary, manuscript amendments--at all stages of the Bill's passage? Can he tell us what the Government intend to do to ensure that all stages of the Bill are completed according to the time scale which he has given us today? Will the Government be moving a timetable motion, or is the Leader of the House proposing an open-ended debate for the Bill's Committee and remaining stages?
Mr. Newton:
On the latter point, I should certainly hope that--with the co-operation that the hon. Lady has reaffirmed on behalf of the Opposition, which I understand has been expressed in some other quarters as well--it will be possible to deal with the Bill in the normal way. Were things to go wrong, clearly we would have to consider the position.
On the question of amendments, of course--as I hope I demonstrated with the Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Bill shortly before Easter--I will always do anything I can to co-operate in easing practical problems when speedy passage of legislation is required. Specifically, we intend to table a motion allowing for amendments to be tabled before Second Reading, which I understand would be for the convenience of some hon. Members.
On the hon. Lady's earlier comments, the proper course is simply for me to say that I understand why she made them. I hope that she, in turn, will understand that I regard those comments as marginally unfair. In the circumstances in which the Bill was not drafted before Easter, we could not be sure that it would be possible to draft the measure according to a time scale that would permit what she has called for. She will know that, for many weeks, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler), have been quite properly engaged in a great deal of consultation with her colleagues and with hon. Members in other parties concerned with Northern Ireland.
Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark and Bermondsey):
I assure the Leader of the House that my right hon. and hon. Friends will co-operate with him to ensure that the Bill proceeds according to the timetable necessary for it to be implemented. May I, however, press him on two matters? First, as the Second Reading will be concluded on Thursday night, may we have an assurance that amendments can be tabled up to the time of the selection of amendments on Tuesday morning so that there is maximum opportunity for hon. Members to table amendments for debate?
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |