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Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire): I thank the right hon. Lady for her statement. I hope that she fully recovers her voice soon. I thank her for giving us two weeks' business--it is a precedent that we hope she will follow regularly.
Will the right hon. Lady confirm that in the debate on student grants and loans on Tuesday, we shall have a full explanation of why students from Scotland and the Irish Republic at Scottish universities will pay nothing for the fourth year of their degree courses, whereas students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have to pay £1,000? Will she also confirm that the money that is garnered from students will, in fact, go straight to the Treasury?
Will the right hon. Lady arrange for a statement next week on Government information officers? Is she aware that there is widespread concern about the reasons that a number of them have given when they have resigned? The Government are in danger of tarnishing the civil service with their own image, as the gentleman from Millbank replaces the gentleman from Whitehall. Will she take on board the concern both inside and outside the House about that matter?
Will the right hon. Lady also arrange for a statement next week, preferably as part of her business statement, assuring the House that when we come to debate
proportional representation for the European Parliament, all the stages of the Bill will be taken on the Floor of the House? Does she accept that there is concern in all quarters of the House about that change to our electoral system?
Finally, will the right hon. Lady give an idea of when she expects the report of the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons to be debated on the Floor of the House?
Mrs. Taylor:
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments on the two weeks' business that I have been able to announce. I shall endeavour to give as much notice of business as possible, although I am sure that he will appreciate that that will not be possible on all occasions. However, we shall try.
The debate on student loans will be as comprehensive as possible, in the half day that the Opposition are allowing for it. It was their choice to have a half-day rather than a full-day debate. It will be an opportunity for Ministers to answer questions on the Government's policy and to show that it is a far better approach to financing higher education than anything that the previous Government, now the Opposition, have suggested.
I do not think that a statement on Government information officers is necessary. I refer the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends to the evidence that Sir Robin Butler gave this week to a Select Committee. I do not think that the concerns about the matter are justified.
On the Bill to introduce proportional representation for elections to the European Parliament, we are not yet in a position to announce when Second Reading will be held. We shall discuss matters relating to the handling of the Bill in the usual way.
I hope that we shall find time to debate the Modernisation Committee report during the coming month and that that debate will not be too far away.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich):
Will my right hon. Friend find time in the next week to debate the appalling news that Rolls-Royce is up for sale to any foreign firm that wishes to take it over? Is she aware that many British jobs in my constituency are now at risk? As the name Rolls-Royce has always been synonymous with the best of British workmanship, we can regard the development only with fear and trembling.
Mrs. Taylor:
I understand the concerns expressed by my hon. Friend, and I know that she will be worried from a constituency point of view about the long-term outcome for that company. Ultimately, however, it will be a commercial decision. The Government will welcome any outcome that secures the long-term future of Rolls-Royce as a manufacturer of good-quality British cars.
Mr. Don Foster (Bath):
I thank the Leader of the House for her business statement and particularly for her courtesy in giving us greater notice of forthcoming business. She will have noticed that the Opposition have chosen to split Tuesday's debate into two halves. Does she believe that that is to enable the two halves of the Conservative party to have their say, or does she perhaps believe that Conservative Members will save up the debate on the troubles within their party until Thursday's debate on the Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Bill?
As the Leader of the House said, Tuesday's debate on student funding will be relatively short. Will she therefore agree to hold a separate debate, in Government time, on the Government's plans to introduce resource accounting, particularly to give us an opportunity to discuss proposals to separate, in accounting terms, lending from spending? Is she aware that, if that were done, it would be possible to release significant sums to resolve immediately the higher education funding crisis, without breaching departmental spending control limits?
Does the Leader of the House acknowledge that we can reduce our need to build more roads, by making better use of existing ones? Will she arrange for a debate on Government plans to provide means to improve our use of existing roads, and particularly to discuss Government measures to address the appalling behaviour of inconsiderate motorists who hog the centre lanes of our motorways, thereby reducing the number of lanes from three to two?
Mrs. Taylor:
Perhaps we are having two half-day debates next week because the Opposition do not have much to say about either of those issues and did not think that either one was worth debating for a full day.
There is not scope for a debate on the overall funding of higher education in the very near future, not least because the Government will have to find time for the Second Reading of Bills that are now ready to be considered. Higher education funding issues will, however, have to be examined--although, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman will agree, there are no simple answers. Obviously, he was speaking from the heart, or from personal experience, when he spoke of roads. I therefore trust that he has been able to respond to the Government's consultation process and to feed in his ideas in that way.
Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover):
On the question of the coal industry and the fact that there is the possibility--the danger--of another 10 pits being closed in the next 12 months or even sooner, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the fact that, if it is right to hand over large sums to Richard Branson to run the railways industry, it should be possible to devise a system to enable coal miners to retain their jobs? If the Government find ways and means to subsidise the industry in whatever form--whether it is clean coal or some other technology--will they ensure that that money is used to take a stake in the industry? The last thing that the miners want is for the money to go into Richard Budge's pockets.
Mrs. Taylor:
I know my hon. Friend's concern about the problems facing the coal industry, and other hon. Members share that concern--as was demonstrated in yesterday's debate on the Adjournment. I am sure that my hon. Friends who are Ministers in the Department of Trade and Industry have listened to all the comments that have been made.
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst):
Following the Chancellor's initiation of the debate on the European single currency, may we please have an early debate on the framework for the on-going debate, which is going to last for several years? In particular, can we ensure that we highlight the possible or, indeed, likely benefits of the United Kingdom staying out of the European single currency--in the unlikely event of that succeeding--and
Mrs. Taylor:
If and when the time comes when the Government and Parliament recommend to the people in a referendum membership of economic and monetary union, the debate will be very full indeed.
Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle):
Is the Leader of the House aware of the latest craze that is gripping the nation's young people--the use of laser pens that can be bought for less than £20 and which can project a high-intensity beam of light up to 200 ft, or from one end of the Chamber to the other? Those pens are being used to dazzle footballers, temporarily blind bus drivers and generally cause mayhem. Will my right hon. Friend consult the Home Secretary with a view to an early statement on how the laser pens can be controlled?
Mrs. Taylor:
The matter has been raised in my constituency because of incidents there, so I am aware of the concern being expressed. Those pens have on occasion been used as offensive weapons and can be classified as such if they are misused in that way.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham):
The Leader of the House kindly said that the afternoon of 12 November had been earmarked for a debate on the European Communities (Amendment) Bill. May I nevertheless ask her to reconsider and instead to find time for a full two-day debate next week on the treaty of Amsterdam because, as I am sure she is aware, that treaty continues the process whereby more decisions that affect the United Kingdom are taken outwith the United Kingdom, by institutions that we do not elect and cannot remove? As there can be no issue that exceeds in importance that of democratic control of our affairs, may I plead with the right hon. Lady to allow the House a proper and full debate on the matter next week?
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