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Mr. Hogg: To be short and snappy: the hon. Gentleman is talking nonsense.

Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West): Has the Minister studied the incident that occurred in the United States in 1989, when 37 people died and 1,500 were disabled after eating a food supplement that had been genetically modified and which contained a toxin previously unknown to science? Why has genetically modified food been mixed with other food in this country so that it cannot be identified?

Although Asda and Iceland have said that they will ban genetically modified food, they cannot deliver on that promise because of the mix-up. Genetically modified food in confectionary form is on sale within the Palace. This experiment with human health is being carried out not for the benefit of consumers, but for the benefit of foreign companies' profits. Will the Minister give an assurance that, in future, consumers may choose between foods that are genetically modified and those that are not, as they cannot do so at present?

Madam Deputy Speaker: Order. Questions are getting long again.

Mr. Hogg: I know that there is concern about genetically modified foodstuffs. However, it is a general issue, and I shall not elaborate in the context of this question. The fact that there is much public anxiety about genetically modified foodstuffs underlines the importance of our proposal. The Food Safety Council would be in a position to address precisely that question--together with related questions of labelling and so forth--and to make its views known to the House and to the public at large. That is a very powerful argument as to why we should adopt that policy.

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Business of the House

5.12 pm

The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton): I should like to make a statement about the business for next week:

Monday 3 February--Motions on the English Revenue Support Grant Reports. Details will be given in the Official Report.

Tuesday 4 February--Remaining stages of the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Bill.

Motions on the Welsh Revenue Support Grant Reports. Details will be given in the Official Report.

Wednesday 5 February--Until 2 pm, debates on the motion for the Adjournment of the House.

Opposition Day [4th allotted day].

Until about 7 pm, a debate on health. Followed by a debate on investing in early years, primary and secondary education. Both debates will arise on motions in the name of the Liberal Democrats.

Thursday 6 February--Debate on the Royal Air Force on a motion for the Adjournment of the House.

Friday 7 February--Private Members' Bills.

Monday 10 February--Until about 7 pm, Second Reading of the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Bill [Lords].

Second Reading of the Welsh Development Agency Bill.

[Monday 3 February--Relevant Reports: Local Government Finance Report (England) 1997-98; Special Grant Report (No. 23); Limitation of Council Tax and Precepts (Relevant Notional Amounts) Report (England) 1997-98.

Wednesday 5 February--Relevant Reports: Local Government Finance Report (Wales) 1997-98; Special Grant Report (Wales) 1997; Limitation of Council Tax (Relevant Notional Amounts) Report (Wales) 1997-98.

Wednesday 12 February:

European Standing Committee A--Relevant European Community Document: 5217/97, Commission Report on Raw Tobacco. Relevant European Legislation Committee Report: HC 36-xi (1996-97).

European Standing Committee B--Relevant European Community Document: 5147/96, Takeover Bids. Relevant European Legislation Committee Reports: HC 51-xxix (1995-96) and HC 51-xiv (1995-96).] Madam Deputy Speaker, I regret that, once again, I am unable to go much beyond the business for the first week--but at least it makes the business statement shorter and snappier.

Mrs. Ann Taylor (Dewsbury): In view of Madam Speaker's statement on Tuesday--which was widely welcomed on both sides of the House--about Parliament being brought into disrepute by sleaze allegations involving a small number of hon. Members, will the Lord President, in his capacity as Chairman of the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges, confirm to the House that that Committee and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards are working flat out to try to

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conclude all outstanding matters as soon as possible? I am sure that such confirmation would not constitute a breach of the confidentiality of the Committee.

The House will have noted that there is to be a debate next week on the Royal Air Force. While I am sure that no one objects to it, will the Leader of the House ensure that Ministers who speak in the debate are able to explain in detail the possible consequences for the RAF and other parts of the defence budget of the Government's decision to spend £60 million of taxpayers' money on the new royal yacht?

Will the Leader of the House comment on the point of order that was raised yesterday by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) regarding the answering of written parliamentary questions? The Leader of the House may know that that parliamentary question has now been answered, but hon. Members should not have to make points of order in the House to elicit answers from Ministers. In view of my experience, can he say whether the normal convention of Ministers always meeting hon. Members to discuss local matters remains operational, following two refusals by Education Ministers to meet a delegation from Mirfield in my constituency?

Can time be found in the near future for a debate on an issue that the Leader of the House did not cover in his statement: the consequences of bus deregulation? I draw his attention to a report entitled "Making Connections" which was published yesterday and which the Yorkshire Evening Post summarised as saying:

"bus services will never improve while profits are put ahead of customers".

As the Secretary of State for the Environment co-chaired the body that wrote the report, surely the House should debate the matter.

Finally, in view of his answers in recent weeks, has the Leader of the House considered making space in our Question Time rota for questions to the member of the Government who is usually known as the chairman of the Conservative party? If the Leader of the House cannot provide precise information today about the Wirral, South by-election, can the chairman of the Conservative party come to the Dispatch Box?

Mr. Newton: The hon. Lady will not be surprised to learn that I, like other hon. Members, welcomed the measured and balanced way in which Madam Speaker commented on Monday on behalf of the House on an issue about which we all feel strongly. Understandably, the hon. Lady asked me, as Chairman of the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges--she is a distinguished member of that body--to confirm that the Committee is making every effort to conclude consideration of the various matters before us. I certainly confirm that--with the wholehearted support of all Committee members. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is also playing an active role. Many of the matters are complex and extremely important and they must be considered properly, but we shall proceed with all possible speed.

I cannot predict the contents of the speech of the Minister who will speak in the Royal Air Force debate, as I have not discussed it with him. However, I shall draw to his attention the hon. Lady's point about what she would like to be in it.

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The hon. Lady referred to the point of order raised yesterday by the hon. Member for Perry Bar, who I see sitting, diligently, beside her. The hon. Gentleman knows that I took action as soon as he raised his point of order to ensure that, by the end of the day, his question had been answered. Indeed, he has received a letter of apology from my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary. The implication of that is clear. I accept, of course, that such errors should not occur and that we should make every effort to avoid them. I think that it is clear from my right hon. Friend's letter to the hon. Gentleman that he, too, accepts that. To put it simply and straightforwardly, it was an error. Every effort will be made to prevent such an error occurring again.

In the end, individual Ministers must make judgments in particular circumstances on whether to meet delegations. I understand why the hon. Lady has raised the matter. I am not in a position to comment in detail, because I was hitherto unaware of the facts that she stated. I shall ensure that her concern is brought to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment.

I have not yet had a chance to study the report on bus deregulation. I have, however, seen some of the press reports. The Government's position is that we welcome the independent report. We shall be studying the recommendations carefully.

I thought that the hon. Lady gave a rather unbalanced account of the bus industry, but I shall not go on about that at length. There is no doubt, however--it is certainly observable in the areas with which I am concerned--that deregulation and privatisation have brought a great deal of innovation, including new types of bus, which in many instances have provided greater flexibility. Perhaps the hon. Lady should have mentioned that investment by the industry in new buses has increased in each of the past four years.

Finally, I shall take up the hon. Lady's rather ingenious point about the Wirral, South by-election. I am not in a position to add to what I said last week, which I accept was not very much. I have no plans for making changes in the questions rota for the remainder of the Parliament.

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