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Mrs. Beckett: My hon. Friend makes an extremely interesting point. I am aware of the events to which he refers. He will note that we have a Home Office Minister
present who will have heard his observations. I cannot undertake that the Home Office will be able to produce a special response to that event before the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill has its Second Reading, but I can tell my hon. Friend that that sort of event is continually under review.
Mr. Christopher Gill (Ludlow): I am sorry, Madam Speaker, that I was not able to catch your eye in Agriculture questions, because the subject of the debate that I would like to ask the Leader of the House to grant concerns the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I have here two letters, the first of which is from the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, dated 22 December, in which he says:
- "the Commission has recognised the BSE crisis as an exceptional occurrence, and has authorized a number of aid measures to mitigate the effects of the crisis, including aids for the pig sector."
- "the grant of an 'exceptional occurrence' and/or restructuring state aid to the pig industry".
Madam Speaker: Order. I am rather pleased that the hon. Gentleman did not catch my eye during Question Time, otherwise I might have had to ask him to sit down. I think that the Leader of the House has the gist of what he is seeking, which is a major debate on these issues. Is that right?
Mr. Gill: May I repeat my question very briefly, Madam Speaker?
Mr. Gill: My question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was:
- "what representations he has received regarding EU grants for exceptional occurrences within the pig industry"
- "We have received no representations and there are no such EU grants."--[Official Report, 7 February 2000; Vol. 344, c. 78W.]
Mrs. Beckett: I fear that I cannot undertake to find time for a special debate on the matter that the hon. Gentleman has raised. If I dare to disagree mildly with you, Madam Speaker, I am slightly sorry that he did not catch your eye, because he might have found someone from MAFF who was in a position to reply to his points. However, I will certainly undertake to draw them to the attention of my right hon. Friend.
Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle): May I inform my right hon. Friend that I have digested Wakeham? I know that Lord Wakeham wants the life peers to continue down in the other place until they drop. Has my right hon. Friend had an opportunity to reflect on the implications of my early-day motion 376 on the life expectancy of life peers?
[That this House notes the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords which allows for existing life peers to remain in the Upper House should they so wish; further notes that the average age of male life peers is around 70 years compared with 64 years for women; calculates that the expected number of life peers dying within 11 years is around 49 per cent. of the 543 life peers (out of 550) whose dates of birth are readily available; postulates that it would be around 20 years before this expected number reached three quarters of existing life peers and 29 years before this figure reached 90 per cent.; considers it inappropriate for appointed peers to serve in Parliament long into the 21st century; recognises that appointment is no substitute for election; and calls for a wholly elected Upper House of 100 members.]
Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that according to my calculations, half of them will be dead within 11 years; 75 per cent. of them will be dead within 20 years; 90 per cent. of them will be dead within 29 years, but 10 per cent. will still be alive and kicking well into the next century? [Interruption.] I meant this century.
Madam Speaker:
Order. The hon. Gentleman is not being numerate at the moment. He had better put his question.
Mr. Prentice:
Everyone knows what I meant, Madam Speaker.
May I add my Back-Bench voice to the shadow Leader of the House's call for an early debate on Wakeham?
Mrs. Beckett:
I am grateful for my hon. Friend's interesting observations and statistics, which the House will study closely when they appear in Hansard. I take note of his point, but also note that this is the first occasion, of which I am aware, on which my hon. Friend has agreed with something said by the Conservatives.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood):
In reply to the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Gapes), who requested a debate next week on Austria, the Leader of the House rightly pointed out that there will be Foreign Office questions soon. However, do we not need a much wider debate than that on foreign affairs and on the incongruity of Labour policy? The Government are forbidding high-level visits not only to Austria, but to Chile--another good friend of this country. On the other hand, a succession of high-level dignitaries have gone to Cuba, China and other countries with nefarious regimes. The ethical foreign policy is in tatters and our interests are being damaged. May we have an early debate?
Mrs. Beckett:
I remind the hon. Gentleman that our policy on Austria is not merely that of the Labour party, but of all the Governments of the European Union. [Interruption.] I know that that fact may be unwelcome to the hon. Gentleman, and he may consider it a recommendation against the policy. However, Governments across Europe are deeply concerned by events in Austria and have taken the same action as the British Government.
Mr. Tony McWalter (Hemel Hempstead):
Thank you for calling me, Madam Speaker, as I was so excited by the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) that I nearly forgot to stand up.
Does my right hon. Friend recall that three weeks ago I referred to rumblings on the Government Back Benches about the freezing of the minimum wage? Does she accept that those rumblings have grown? Indeed, the rumbling that took place in Committee Room 7 last night may well have reached the Chamber by now. Does she agree that it is vital to have an early statement about a policy that seems to be leading to a decline in the real standards of living of some of the poorest people in our country? Will she ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to make an early statement?
Mrs. Beckett:
Of course I am aware of the concern that has been expressed. I am also aware of the popularity of the national minimum wage. So popular is it, indeed, that the Conservatives have decided that they cannot afford to continue to say that they will scrap it. May I mention a slight misapprehension? The Low Pay Commission's recommendation about the minimum wage was intended to be implemented on the date on which it actually came into force. It was not set a year early, and was not, therefore, already out of date by the time it came into force.
Some debates on the matter have overlooked the fact that the timing of the rate's setting was explicitly understood. However, I fully recognise that some people believe that the rate should be increased. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is also aware of that view.
Mr. Mike Hancock (Portsmouth, South):
Will the right hon. Lady find time, not too distant from the time of the defence debate, for the House to discuss the Government's response to changes in the Western European Union, the only organisation in which European countries not in NATO may discuss defence matters? Do the Government take a positive stance one way or the other--for or against--on our future parliamentary representation at the WEU? Would she also find time to discuss the future relationship of Parliament with the Council of Europe and with NATO? All three institutions require review, and all three deserve some of the Chamber's time for a debate on our reaction to proposed changes.
Mrs. Beckett:
I recognise that the hon. Gentleman raises a serious point; the changes that are afoot in all those bodies are worthy of consideration. However, although those matters are important and serious, it would probably be difficult to find time for them on the Floor of the House because the pressure on business in the Chamber is always so great. The hon. Gentleman might consider whether it would pay him and those who take a special interest in these matters to pursue them in a debate in Westminster Hall.
Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North):
I know that there has been criticism from Conservative Members in the Chamber today, and outside it, about the cancellation of the visit to Austria for the trade fair in May by a high-level person. Bearing in mind that the Freedom party is led by a person who recently described SS troops as decent people who have character, will my right hon. Friend give further consideration to holding a debate on Britain's relations with Austria?
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