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Ms Keeble: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Sir George Young: I will give way once; then I must make progress.
Ms Keeble: Will the right hon. Gentleman accept my account of what is happening in the real world in my constituency, where GPs piloted GP commissioning? That has produced, for example, emergency pelvic scanning for women, which has probably saved lives and has certainly
prevented serious conditions. Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that GP commissioning is a powerful tool?
Sir George Young: In Andover in my constituency, there was a pilot for primary care groups--a pilot for stage 4--but, having talked to GPs locally, I know that there is concern that they will not receive Government back-up for the administrative support that they need, and they will be distracted from their primary job of looking after patients.
In Labour's world of industry, the Government talk of partnership. When she was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Leader of the House of Commons said that the proposals for union recognition were a new culture of partnership, but, in the real world, we have compulsion. On the economy, the subject of today's debate, the Queen's Speech talks about
In Labour's world of education, teachers will be retrained and class sizes reduced, but, in the real world, the Government's pledge to cut class sizes for five to seven-years-olds is having an adverse effect. Class sizes for seven to 11-year-olds are shooting up. Teachers' independence and flexibility is being eroded and their hands are being tied. Successful grammar schools are threatened. In time, people will form their own conclusions as to whether Labour's world corresponds to the real world.
It is usual for the Leader of the House and the shadow leader to say a word about House of Commons matters. The House will know that the Modernisation Committee has been meeting, usually twice a week, grappling with matters of reform. We will be as constructive as we can, but we need to remember that our duties to hold the Government to account, to scrutinise legislation and to represent our constituents should come first, and that some personal inconvenience may be inevitable if that job is to be done properly.
To produce a manageable programme--not least to make way for House of Lords reform--many Bills have been ditched. That proposal will weaken, rather than improve, the scrutiny of legislation and the second Chamber's independence will be reduced.
The decision to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers is the political equivalent of some French or German emperor who is poised to conquer Europe suddenly deciding to invade Russia. It is not just a diversion from the main objective; it will prejudice its attainment. The Government will get deeper and deeper into strange territory. They will run out of food and ammunition. Winter will close in and take its toll.
I can see only one benefit in rushing to abolish the hereditary peers. It might improve the chances of this House winning the annual tug of war once the upper House loses its fit, well-nourished and virile younger peers.
To compensate for the dearth of new measures in the Queen's Speech, the Government have reannounced some old ones; we are all familiar with the Government's habit of making the same announcements again and again. I understand that they have set a new target for next year: to save scarce resources, 60 per cent. of all new announcements will use recycled money.
In this great debate, what about the Liberal Democrats? It is an interesting phenomenon that, the higher the number of Liberal Democrat Members, the lower their enthusiasm to remain an independent party. If that paradox continued to its logical conclusion and they ever became the largest party, they would immediately apply to join a smaller one.
If I were a Liberal Democrat Member, I would be worried by the latest opinion poll. It shows not only that the Liberal Democrats are losing ground to the Conservatives, but that their leader's status is improving. I invite Liberal Democrat Members to reflect on that for a moment because, if that trends continues, he may be a popular general, but he will not have any troops.
The only real opposition to the Government is the Conservative Opposition. The Liberal Democrats do not oppose the Government; they urge them to go faster, to tax more, to spend more, to regulate and to intervene more.
During the Session, we will explain to our constituents the difference between the world of the spin merchants and the real world. We will explain that the measures in the Queen's Speech do not address the problems of the real world, ignore the priorities of Britain's people and instead pursue the Labour party's narrow, sectional interests.
The President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mrs. Margaret Beckett):
The Gracious Speech--the second one of this Labour Administration--provides us with the opportunity of looking ahead to the coming year from the vantage point of 18 months of solid achievement. Although few could deny that achievement, many Opposition Members have tried to do so in this debate. Class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds are coming down so sharply that we hope to fulfil our pledge on class sizes ahead of time. Hospital waiting lists have been falling monthly. Action is being taken to bring young offenders more speedily before the courts, and the new deal is in place and contributing to increased employment.
Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford):
Will the right hon. Lady give way?
Over 50 pieces of legislation have been enacted, including legislation on modernisation of our constitution and the historic step of setting the first-ever national
minimum wage. That action is important on its own, but it is not on its own. It stands in the context of proposals made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a working families tax credit, for a disabled persons tax credit and for the largest-ever increase in child benefit.
Before the general election, our widespread consultations with the business community produced some key concerns: economic stability; ending boom and bust; and, hence, a stable and consistent approach to economic policy. Placing control of interest rates in the hands of the Bank of England--which the Opposition threaten to reverse--was only the first of more widespread measures that contribute to sound management and good government.
Mr. Ruffley:
Will the right hon. Lady give way?
Mrs. Beckett:
If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I have much to say and not much time. I shall give way later, if I can.
Using the public spending programme that we inherited gave us time to assess across government how public funds can best be used to pursue the people's priorities. Our decision was massively to increase investment in education and in health--£40 billion in total in those services over the next three years. That decision, our investment in transport and our decision to make the largest-ever investment in science policy rightly commanded both headlines and public attention.
As significant in the long term will be our action on reforming the management of public spending, setting a firm programme over three years so that Departments and agencies have more freedom sensibly to manage their money in those years, and our decision to ensure that investment of public money is matched by a commitment to both modernisation and reform. Our most difficult, but most crucial, decision was to establish a process whereby we judge the worth of the investment of public money on the outcome--on performance, and on what is delivered--rather than on the amount of money provided initially. All those actions are fundamental and long-overdue changes to the way in which we approach the management of public funds and the uses to which they are put.
The investment itself is made possible by sound economic management. Repayment last year of £20 billion of debt that we inherited from the Conservative Government, the firm grip that we have taken on inflation and--despite recent difficulties around the world--continued employment growth are all clear signs of a Government who know where they are going and how they intend to get there.
Mr. Ruffley:
Will the right hon. Lady explain why the European Commission is predicting that, next year, UK economic growth will put us at the bottom of the European Union growth league?
"high and stable levels of economic growth and employment . . . and greater job opportunities",
but, in the real world, Rover has announced 2,500 job losses and people are losing jobs throughout the country--one job is being lost every 10 minutes. Last Friday, 4,200 jobs went in a single day, as firms grappled with the consequences of a high pound and high interest rates. Today, it was announced that another 1,000 jobs are to be lost at Courtaulds.
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