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Mrs. Beckett: My hon. Friend makes an important point. I fear that I cannot undertake to find time, which is always at a premium, on the Floor of the House for such a debate. However, I remind him that one of the principal reasons for the proposal to have extra sittings in Westminster Hall was to find more time for debate and scrutiny, particularly of Select Committee reports. May I recommend that course to him?

Mr. Tim Collins (Westmorland and Lonsdale): Can the right hon. Lady find time for a debate on tourism? The recent decision by the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), to confirm a ban on motor sports on Lake Windermere is likely to cost around 500 jobs in my constituency. Will the Government look constructively at the case advanced by Cumbria tourist board and other organisations for assistance to those likely to lose business or their jobs?

Mrs. Beckett: I am aware of the proposal endorsed by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary. I appreciate that it raises concerns for some people, but it is a step that others have long sought. I see the hon. Gentleman assenting to that. I cannot undertake to find time for a debate on the Floor of the House, but shall draw his remarks to my hon. Friend's attention. I recommend to the hon. Gentleman the facilities of Westminster Hall.

Mr. Jonathan Shaw (Chatham and Aylesford): Is my right hon. Friend aware of press reports suggesting that the Home Office has made up its mind on the successful applicants for the prestigious city status awards? Outrageously, the press has suggested that the Medway towns, which, as I am sure she will agree, have made the finest bid, are not in the running. She will share my joy that the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), has told me that that is not the case. The criteria have not yet been written and no announcement has even been timetabled.

Those who have made applications have been kept too long in the dark. Local people make a lot of effort to present the best of their areas, and it is time we heard from the Home Office when an announcement will be made. I should be grateful if my right hon. Friend could pass on that message.

Mrs. Beckett: I certainly cannot tell my hon. Friend when an announcement will be made. I can, however, confirm that the document reported in the press had not been seen by Ministers and was not even official advice to them. I entirely understand my hon. Friend's strong argument in favour of his own locality, but, with my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Mr. Caplin) sitting behind me, he will understand that it is more than I dare do to endorse any applicant bid. I shall certainly draw his concerns to the attention of the Home Office.

Mr. David Chidgey (Eastleigh): The Leader of the House may recall that the Select Committee on Foreign

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Affairs published its first annual report on human rights in January. The Government are responding to that report today. The Committee drew attention to the fact that a loophole in the law makes it possible for British firms to manufacture and export leg irons and shackles. The Foreign Secretary acknowledged the fault and said that new legislation would be prepared to close the loophole. Two months have since passed. Will the right hon. Lady let us know when that legislation will come before us, and what form it will take?

Mrs. Beckett: Of course I recognise the serious concerns contained in the report, which are shared across the House. Two months is not long in which to consider legislative change, and it is never right for me to anticipate future decisions about the form of legislation. However, I take the hon. Gentleman's point on board and shall bear it in mind.

Mr. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire): Concern has been rightly expressed today about cars, agriculture and mining. May I bring to the attention of the Leader of the House the position of the United Kingdom's snack and biscuit industry, which employs tens of thousands of people, including the 11,000 employed by United Biscuits, which has more than 3,000 workers on three sites in Ashby de la Zouch in my constituency? They face a takeover bid by a consortium that includes an American equity finance firm with a slash-and-burn reputation that would warm the cockles of the hearts of Conservative Members. Several thousand jobs are in peril. Will my right hon. Friend please find time for a debate and urge my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to review that takeover bid?

Mrs. Beckett: I certainly undertake to draw my hon. Friend's concern to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Whether my right hon. Friend calls in bids is a delicate matter requiring careful consideration. I fear that I cannot undertake to find time in the near future for a debate in the House, and I recommend Westminster Hall to my hon. Friend.

Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire): Can the Leader of the House understand the concern of Members who represent rural constituencies about a written question on farming on the Order Paper, tabled by a Member who represents a Bristol constituency? Given that the Government pretend to have many Members representing rural constituencies, it does not warm hearts that they have had to get a Member from Bristol to ask a question on this matter. No doubt this evening the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will give numerous interviews on television and the radio, but Members of this House, elected to represent their constituents, will not have the chance to question him. Why can we not have a statement at seven o'clock tonight?

Mrs. Beckett: The hon. Gentleman's first point is more than a little bizarre. My understanding of the Bristol economy is that it has always had many links with the farming community which, in many ways, surrounds it. It is a rather strange concern to express. Of course I accept

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that the matter is of interest to the whole House. The farming industry wants to have those discussions and to know the outcome, which we hope will be constructive and with which it will be able to work. If it is possible, it is always desirable to structure every discussion that takes place in Government so that it can be reported in the middle of the week and the House can more readily address it, but we cannot bring government to a halt on the days surrounding weekends so that the House has the opportunity to hear a statement at a convenient time. The decisions and outcome are most important. Of course it is also extremely important that Members have those properly reported to them and have an opportunity to pursue them, and that opportunity will come.

Mr. Peter Bradley (The Wrekin): In the light of persistent rumours that the list of new peers will include Mr. Michael Ashcroft, will my right hon. Friend arrange for a debate on the honours system? Could she conceive of any circumstances in which the Labour party would nominate for a peerage a man who has been a tax exile for the best part of 20 years, is an overseas resident and a representative of a foreign Government at the United Nations? Could she arrange, too, for proper scrutiny of the Scrutiny Committee which, apparently, only a year ago rejected his nomination but, if the rumours are accurate, has now rolled over in the face of disturbing lobbying from the Tory party which is, clearly, bankrupt in more ways than one? Does she agree that this episode illustrates beyond doubt that the party that now pioneers cash for coronets has sunk to depths previously unplumbed?

Mrs. Beckett: I fear that I cannot find time for a debate of the kind that my hon. Friend seeks. I am happy to say that I have no knowledge of whether the constant rumours that one reads are true. The particular characteristics of Mr. Ashcroft, including his representation of another power, are so unusual that his nomination would be unprecedented from any party. His is an unusual, if not unique, situation. Further than that, I will not go.

Mr. Bob Russell (Colchester): Can the Leader of the House find time for a debate on Wembley stadium and, in particular, on the Wembley taskforce? She must be aware that this subject is controversial--so controversial that the two Departments do not know which one is responsible for the taskforce. On Monday, I had a question tabled to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which was kicked into touch because that Department ruled that it was a matter for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Does she agree that the House is entitled to debate Wembley stadium and every aspect of the taskforce's work?

Mrs. Beckett: Of course the House is entitled to debate the taskforce and its work. Nobody would contest that. I am sorry if there has been a delay in answering the hon. Gentleman's question because of the confusion that he has identified. I shall draw the matter to the attention of my right hon. Friends.

Mr. Phil Hope (Corby): My right hon. Friend will be aware that last week the Government's social exclusion unit published a wide-ranging report on young people. It is a comprehensive analysis of the position facing

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young people today and makes several far-reaching recommendations about the creation of a ministerial group on young people and a youth card--a smart card for discounts on travel and other benefits. It calls on the Government to produce a comprehensive strategy to respond to the needs of young people. It is a vital report, yet it has not received much attention in the media. It has been overlooked, so may we have an urgent debate on the Floor of the House to raise the profile of the needs of young people in Britain today?

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