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Mr. Andrew Stunell (Hazel Grove): Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State for Defence to make a statement about the Gulf war veterans who claim that they may have been affected by depleted uranium while on active service in the Gulf? Will she draw the Secretary of State's attention to the particular importance of that matter, bearing in mind that Ministry of Defence police have raided the homes of some veterans in the past 24 hours, apparently in an attempt to recover evidence and stop that claim proceeding?
Mrs. Beckett: I am not familiar with the hon. Gentleman's allegations, but I have no doubt that they will be drawn to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. I am aware that there has long been discussion about the difficult issue of illnesses suffered by many Gulf war veterans. The Minister of Transport, my right hon. Friend for Hamilton, North and Bellshill (Dr. Reid), devoted much time and sympathetic attention to the matter in his previous post as Minister for
the Armed Forces. I am not familiar with the immediate issues raised by the hon. Gentleman, but I shall draw his concerns to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.
Mr. Tony McNulty (Harrow, East): First, may I thank my right hon. Friend for announcing the dates of the Second Reading of the Greater London Authority Bill, and welcome the publication of the Bill today? Will she resist as far as is practicable any scrutiny of the Bill on the Floor of the House, rather than Upstairs? It needs detailed scrutiny, which is far better done elsewhere.
Secondly, will my right hon. Friend resist the fatuous trivialisation of the issue dealt with at Prime Minister's questions yesterday in terms of patriotic alliances? Will she be assured that, whether it takes one year or two years, as long as the end result is that we get rid of all hereditary peers, this party, which has waited 90 years to do it, will wait a little longer?
Mrs. Beckett:
My hon. Friend is entirely right. The clear wish of the Government, and of the people who elected us, is to make a long, long-awaited reform in another place. Anything that brings that about will be welcome. If it brings it about more quickly, all the better.
I hear what my hon. Friend says about the Greater London Authority Bill. We will consider the issues with care. I can assure him that the Government will discuss through the usual channels the best way of handling the Bill, because we all want it to be properly scrutinised. We shall attempt to get agreement about how that can best be done, in whatever way those discussions take place.
Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West):
When can we debate early-day motion 1?
[That this House enthusiastically supports the Government's proposal for a £75 guaranteed minimum income for pensioners; notes that about a million pensioners entitled to income support do not receive it; and urges that the guaranteed minimum should be implemented for all by raising the basic pension to £75 per week in 1999 without a means test.]
The amendment to it reads:
[Line 3, leave out from 'it' to end and add 'congratulates the Government for honouring its commitment to uprate the state pension at least in line with prices; applauds the extra help given to all pensioners through the new winter fuel payments, reductions in VAT on fuel and the restoration of free eye tests; believes that the Government is right to give the highest priority to the poorest pensioners; further congratulates the Government on establishing pilot projects to encourage pensioners to claim those benefits to which they are entitled; and looks forward to the extension of this initiative, in partnership with local authorities and voluntary organisations, to the rest of the country.']
It supports enthusiastically the many beneficial measures introduced by the Government to improve the income of pensioners, but also sadly notes that, according to recent answers by the Government, up to 1 million pensioners will not receive the guaranteed minimum income of £75, principally because they regard claiming income support as claiming a handout?
Many of those pensioners have worked their entire lives without claiming any handouts or any welfare whatever, and they rightly say that if the level of the basic pension had been increased since 1980 according to the level of inflation, as the contributions that they made over 50 years increased by the level of inflation, the basic pension would now be not £66 a week, but £90 a week. Is it not right that we should say to those pensioners that they have earned the £75 on their basic pension? Would not that be the most dignified and best-value way of giving it to them?
Mrs. Beckett:
I know of the huge amount of work on social security issues that my hon. Friend has done over the years, and of the great concern that he has shown. I can assure him that the Government whole-heartedly share his wish that the poorest pensioners, who in many cases are the poorest because during their working lives their earnings or their pension arrangements were such that they could not save, should receive a guaranteed minimum income.
I entirely share my hon. Friend's view--I think that I am right in my interpretation of his final remarks--that it is hugely important to encourage such pensioners to claim their entitlement and not to feel that they are discouraged from doing so. If, however, my hon. Friend was suggesting that massive increases should be made across the board to the basic pension, I understand and sympathise with the good will that lies behind that suggestion, but it is a much more difficult matter to give substantial increases on the basic pension, including to people who have--as so many now have, as a result of the scheme introduced by the last Labour Government--substantial second pensions.
Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I am sure that the Leader of the House would not want to mislead the House, even inadvertently. I thought I heard her say, in answer to a question, that the Labour Government had not conceded the veto in any areas. She should, of course, be aware that the treaty of Amsterdam, which was taken through the House and signed by her Government, conceded qualified majority voting in no less than 14 areas. I am sure that she will want to put the record straight.
Mrs. Beckett:
With your permission, Madam Speaker, I shall reply to that point of order.
I certainly did not intend any misinterpretation to be put on my words. The point that I was making, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman is well aware, was that it was a Conservative Government who breached the important principle of whether or not everyone should enjoy a veto. Now that the issue of qualified majority voting is in place, thanks to the actions of the Conservative party, of course there are occasions when it seems sensible, in the national interest, that it should be used. It remains my view that it is quite accurate to say that no Labour Government gave up the veto: it was the Conservative Government who gave up the veto, and it is about time the Conservative party stopped making such a fuss and trying to pretend that we are culpable.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Robin Cook):
This debate gives the House its traditional opportunity to debate the issues under discussion at the forthcoming European Council in Vienna. It may be of assistance to the House if I outline what those topics will be. Such is the commitment of the hon. Members who have stayed till this hour that I am anxious to be of as much assistance to them as I can.
On the first morning the Council will approve the employment guidelines for 1999 and discuss how Europe can pursue policies to boost jobs and tackle unemployment. In the afternoon, we will examine progress on the Agenda 2000 dossier, reform of the common agricultural policy, modernisation of the structural funds, and the maintenance of budget discipline.
There will also be discussion on the debate on the future of Europe that was launched during the British presidency. This discussion will examine how we can ensure that decisions within the European Union are taken as close as possible to the peoples of the European Union in line with the principle of subsidiarity.
In the evening, there will be a discussion on enlargement, which will focus on a review of the Commission's report on the preparations by each of the dozen candidate countries.
Chancellor Klima of Austria, who will chair the European Council, visited London last week when he outlined that agenda. At his press conference after his meeting with the Prime Minister, Chancellor Klima said, in answer to a question:
[Relevant documents: Developments in the European Union, January-June 1998 (Cm. 4152); The Commission's Work Programme for 1999: the policy priorities (EU Document Number 12841/98); The Commission's Work Programme for 1999: new legislative initiatives (EU Document Number 12840/98); Minutes of Evidence taken before the Foreign Affairs Committee on1st December, HC42-i.]
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Betts.]
5.55 pm
"We will talk maybe only one minute about tax co-ordination."
Ever since he said that--or for the past two weeks--public debate about Europe in this country has been about little else but taxation. Today therefore provides the House of Commons with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate leadership of that public debate by exploding the myths and mischief that have been peddled as facts for a fortnight.
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