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Mrs. Beckett: My right hon. Friend is always only too willing to publish waiting list figures; there is no attempt to keep them confidential. As we repeatedly remind Conservative Members, there has been no change whatever in the way that those figures are calculated since the Government came to power.
Mr. John Cryer (Hornchurch): Can we have a debate, or at least a brief statement, on speech therapists, of whom there is a national shortage? In my area, the shortage is particularly acute.
May I again ask about the possibility of bringing European Union questions back to the Floor of the House? They were kicked upstairs by the Tories in 1992, when Maastricht got a bit embarrassing for them. We are getting to a crucial stage in western Europe, with the introduction of the euro and the Commission collapsing in a sea of corruption and nepotism--something in which I took enormous delight. We need to put the activities of the European Union under the spotlight.
We also need to put under the spotlight the true record of the Tory party on Europe; it gave us the Maastricht treaty, the common agricultural policy, the common fisheries policy and took us into Europe in the first place--the Common Market, as it then was--without any mandate from the British people. It took a Labour Government to give us a referendum.
Mrs. Beckett:
I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health shares my hon. Friend's concern about the availability of speech therapy in the health service. It is one of a number of important areas of
I cannot undertake to bring EU questions back to the Floor of the House, although my hon. Friend mounts such a strong case that he almost tempts me to do so. Should EU questions come back to the Floor, we could also focus on the fact that the Conservative party gave up the British veto. Much as I am tempted to do as my hon. Friend asks, I cannot undertake that at present.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East):
Will the Leader of the House try to find time for the Deputy Prime Minister to come to the House next week to make a statement about the transport industry? London Underground has yet to receive any significant capital investment, whereas Railtrack has today announced an investment of no less than £27 billion of private capital. That is a remarkable contrast, and the House should hear about it from the Deputy Prime Minister when he chooses how he wants to proceed with the future of London Underground.
Mrs. Beckett:
The whole House is aware that responsibility for the state of Railtrack and London Underground, and for the fact that the rail industry was starved of investment, lies squarely at the door of the Conservative party in government. I cannot undertake that my right hon. Friend will debate the matter in the House in the near future, but the hon. Gentleman may have noticed that he is due to answer questions on the Tuesday we come back after the recess, so the hon. Gentleman can seek an opportunity to raise the matter then.
Mr. Syd Rapson (Portsmouth, North):
Is my right hon. Friend aware that all this week there is an exhibition in the Upper Waiting Hall of the Committee Corridor by SSAFA Forces Help? More than 30 million people in this country can take advantage of that charity, including current or former service men and women and any members of their families. Giving SSAFA Forces Help that exposure is intended to make all hon. Members aware that their constituents with relations who have been in the services or are service personnel can go to the charity for help. That could considerably assist hon. Members in their constituency duties.
Mrs. Beckett:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As it happens, I am familiar with the work of SSAFA Forces Help, and I know what a tremendous charity it is and how much good work it does. I am happy to join my hon. Friend in giving it a little extra publicity.
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot):
May I invite the Leader of the House to reconsider the answer that she gave my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Wilkinson) about the potential impact on this country of an adverse decision by the Home Secretary regarding General Pinochet? May I impress upon her the fact that the Home Secretary has enormously wide discretion in this matter, and that an adverse decision in respect of General Pinochet could have serious consequences for this country? It would be reasonable in this particular case--although not in every case--for the Home Secretary to come to the House so that we may hold him to account on this extremely important matter.
Mrs. Beckett:
The hon. Gentleman may have misunderstood the reply that I gave his hon. Friend. There
Mr. Phil Hope (Corby):
May I welcome the fact that we are having an early debate on the Health Bill, which is coming back from the Lords after the recess? The legacy of staff shortages in the national health service is a problem that we inherited and that continues to dog the NHS. Kettering general hospital serves people from my constituency and is having to hold an open day for its modernised casualty ward to attract nurses into the NHS. I hope that the health debate will provide a good opportunity to examine in detail and with thoroughness new ways to recruit and retain nurses in the NHS.
Mrs. Beckett:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. I am glad to learn of the initiative taken by the hospital in his constituency, and I wish it success. He will be pleased to know that the recruitment hotline--the most recent innovation of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State--is proving a stunning success. As of yesterday teatime, it had received more than 51,000 calls from people interested in either returning to or taking up nursing. That is encouraging, but I share my hon. Friend's view that there is much ground to make up.
Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire):
Does the right hon. Lady accept that it is not normal practice for statements to be made on Fridays, when we deal with private Members' business, and that recently there has been a tendency to break with that convention?
Of course, if a statement of Kosovo were scheduled for tomorrow it would have to take priority, but I understand that a statement on quarantine may be scheduled. That
cannot be described as urgent. Is such a statement to be made; if so, why should private Members' business be interrupted for a statement on a matter that is not urgent?
Mrs. Beckett:
I respect the hon. Gentleman's concern, and the conventions of the House; but I think the hon. Gentleman will find that this is a convention that was honoured more in the breach than the observance when his party was in office. I realise that it is not always helpful for statements to be made on Fridays, and although the hon. Gentleman says that the statement that may indeed be made tomorrow is not urgent, he will know that we have not many days left before the recess, and also that a great deal of urgent business remains to be dealt with. The hon. Gentleman may not consider the question of quarantine to be urgent, but there is a good deal of interest in it, and a good deal of pressure for a statement to be made as soon as possible.
Madam Speaker:
I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that the Queen has signified Her Royal Assent to the following Acts:
Consolidated Fund Act 1999.
City of Westminster Act 1999.
Mr. David Chaytor, supported by Mr. David Lepper, Mr. Stephen Pound, Mr. John Horam, Mr. Tom Brake, Mrs. Helen Brinton, Mr. John Austin and Ms Julia Drown, presented a Bill to increase the content of recycled paper collected and used in newsprint in England and Wales; and for connected purposes: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 23 April, and to be printed [Bill 76].
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West):
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. In his response to the report of the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs on multi-layered democracy, the Secretary of State for Scotland dwelt not on the substance of the report, but on his concern that it had been leaked. He did not say that it had also been leaked to him. Have you received any notice, Madam Speaker, that the Secretary of State will come to the House to explain exactly how he came to have a copy of the report from the hon. Member for Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber (Mr. Stewart), and to say whether he asked the hon. Gentleman for a copy or put any pressure on him to provide one? If you have received no such notice, can we expect a personal statement from the Secretary of State?
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