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Mrs. Betty Williams (Conwy): While I hope that the whole House welcomes the announcement in the Budget yesterday of much-needed support for the British film industry, I am especially interested in the Welsh film industry. Can we hope to have a statement soon on the Welsh film industry? [Interruption.]
Mrs. Taylor: I would have thought that the entire House would welcome measures to support the film industry. I am surprised that some Opposition Members clearly do not. I know that the arts in general are important in Wales and that the film industry there has had some success. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales will ensure that Wales gets a fair share.
Mr. Keith Simpson (Mid-Norfolk): May I ask the Leader of the House to firm up her answer to the question of when we might have a defence debate? Many of us have
been in correspondence with the Secretary of State for Defence on this subject, and so far he has avoided giving any commitment. It is an important issue to many of us because, even as we talk in the Chamber, we have constituents who are literally in harm's way in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and elsewhere. Surely it is reasonable to ask for a major set-piece debate on the subject, and certainly before Christmas. The right hon. Lady has said that she has not ruled out such a debate. May I ask her firmly to rule it in?
Mrs. Taylor: I have said that I think that there is every prospect of a debate, and possibly within the time scale of which the hon. Gentleman is talking. It is, of course, always possible for the Opposition to use one of their days for such a debate.
Mr. Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby): Does my right hon. Friend have any proposals for the further modifications to the Lobbies? I think that the modifications to the Clerks' Tables in the Lobbies--
Madam Speaker: Order. I am sorry. The hon. Gentleman's question might well be put to the Leader of the House when the right hon. Lady answers questions wearing her hat as Leader of the House and President of the Council. The question does not relate to next week's business. I am trying to be helpful. I understand new Members' enthusiasm.
Mr. Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston): In the light of recent press releases from the Department of Health, may we have an early statement on the desirability for more openness in national health service trusts, and especially on the desirable suggestion of making trust boards open to the public?
Mrs. Taylor: My hon. Friend is right to raise an important issue. The Government want to see as much transparency as possible in all areas. To force trusts to hold their meetings in public would require a change to regulations. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has plans to introduce such a change when practicable. In the meantime, my right hon. Friend and, I think, all of us hope that the trusts will enter into the spirit of what we are trying to achieve and will make their meetings open to the public so that local people can ensure that health trusts are serving local needs.
Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley): Will the Leader of the House find some time shortly to discuss the Government's drug policy? I know that she leads a committee that co-ordinates Government policy on this issue. Has she seen early-day motion 112?
[That this House notes that a year after the appointment of General McCaffrey as America's Drug Czar, statistics prove that teenage drug abuse is soaring, reports of drug-related corruption have multiplied and the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles have suffered startling jumps in use and overdoses; observes that the Drug Czar has been called a 'drugs nanny and a disaster'; and urges the Government not to repeat America's mistakes by creating a Drug Czar but to set up a Royal Commission to consider alternative policies.]
In the light of that motion, will the right hon. Lady reassure the House that the committee that she leads will not be suggesting that the Government do not introduce a drugs tsar?
Secondly, will the right hon. Lady confirm that there will be no reconsideration of the legalisation of drugs, whether they be hard or soft?
Mrs. Taylor:
I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that I have paid tribute to the work of my predecessor in this respect. We intend to appoint a drugs tsar. We intend to go ahead with that policy and to ensure that the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs misuse has an important part to play in the fight against crime. I hope and trust that, as was suggested by the hon. Gentleman, rather than some Opposition Members below the Gangway, the issue can be approached on a non-party political basis.
Dr. Ashok Kumar (Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East):
Given the Tory government's miserable record on low pay after running the country for 18 years, will my right hon. Friend make a statement on the progress of the low pay commission? The matter will be of particular interest to my constituents because, after 18 years of Tory Government, one in seven of them is earning less than £3.50 an hour. Will my right hon. Friend make a statement on the matter?
Mrs. Taylor:
My hon. Friend will know that we are making preparations for the establishment of the low pay commission. Applications for membership of the commission have been invited and advertised publicly in both the national and local press. I think that the closing date will be reached in about 10 days' time. We intend to establish a balanced commission. I think that that will put us in a strong position to meet our manifesto pledge.
Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby):
Will the right hon. Lady make time next week, or in the very near future, for a proper debate on Northern Ireland? She will be aware that, on Monday, a debate on Northern Ireland lasted for only 90 minutes. This is a very important time in the peace process and, indeed, for security, so will she explain why the debate on the extension of direct rule was reduced from three hours, which we had last year, to 90 minutes this year? The House started the Adjournment at 5 minutes past 7, so there was lots of time.
Mrs. Taylor:
There have been three debates on specific issues related to Northern Ireland in the past few weeks. The hon. Gentleman's complaint might be valid if there had been some artificial means of curtailing that debate, but that was not the case. When debates on Northern Ireland are required, those debates take place in the House, as do statements. Again, it is one of the areas where there can be some cross-party agreement on how to treat very sensitive and difficult issues.
Mr. David Borrow (South Ribble):
Before being elected to the House, I was heavily involved in a single regeneration budget bid for the Greater Deepdale area of Preston. Discussions are taking place for a cross-border bid involving Preston and South Ribble. Can my right hon. Friend say when the next round of bidding will start?
Mrs. Taylor:
I cannot, of course, comment on any bid from my hon. Friend's constituency, however high the quality of that bid may be, but I anticipate that my
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (North Essex):
Can the right hon. Lady tell the House what lies behind the rather unseemly rush with the timetable of the Finance Bill? Could it be that she does not want us to spend too much time discussing the mammoth raid on pensions in the changes to advance corporation tax, or is it that none of the utility regulators support the principle of the utilities tax and that they think that it will harm investment in the utilities? The stifling of dissent and debate on controversial issues is becoming something of a hallmark of the way in which she conducts her responsibilities.
Mrs. Taylor:
I think that it is quite important that we press ahead as quickly as possible with very positive measures to employ unemployed youngsters and many people who have been unemployed for a very long time. I also think it very important that we press ahead with some of our specific commitments in the manifesto, such as the reduction of VAT on fuel. I can understand why Opposition Members are not happy with those measures. It is because those measures are extremely popular with the country.
Mr. Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock):
Does my right hon. Friend recall that, last week, I requested that the House of Commons Commission should meet to address, among other things, a number of pressing industrial relations problems for which, ultimately, all Members of Parliament are responsible? When will the Commission--and the other relevant Committees--meet to deal with those matters and throw some light on something that I have learnt about since last week: the reorganisation of our Post Office, including the extinguishment of the century-old post of postmaster? That office will disappear, but, more important, so will the function. There are ramifications for all of us. These matters need to be examined by the appropriate Committees, but they are not meeting at the present time, and that is bad.
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