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Anti-drugs Policies (Netherlands)
11. Mr. Paul Flynn (Newport, West): What plans he has to visit the Netherlands to investigate anti-drugs policies. [121541]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke): None--although, recently, I was there for three days on holiday.
Mr. Flynn: How does the Minister respond to the conclusions of the Police Foundation that, after 20 years of decriminalisation in the Netherlands, cannabis use is far less than it is in Britain, and that that country has the lowest ratio of drug deaths in Europe? After 30 years of prohibition in this country, heroin use has increased by 2,000 per cent., and cannabis use is the highest in Europe. Has not the Police Foundation demolished the main plank of the Government's policy by also concluding that young people in Holland are far less likely to experiment with heroin than those elsewhere in Europe?
Apart from making jokes on the subject, will my hon. Friend fulfil his important duty as a Minister, to reduce drug deaths by examining fairly all the evidence, including the success of the Netherlands?
Mr. Clarke: I do not make jokes about the subject. Drug taking among young people is one of the most serious and tragic matters with which we have to deal. It is incumbent on Governments to try by all means possible to drive down drug taking by young people. For that reason, I did not accept the conclusions of the Police Foundation report.
It is not clear that the Dutch policy has been a success. The Dutch Government have reduced both the overall numbers of coffee shops and the amount of cannabis that can be bought with impunity in any one transaction. I understand that they will be reviewing the policy again this year. The semi-legal trade in cannabis in the Netherlands has also helped to make that country a safer place for big-time crooks. That is why there are substantial problems in that regard.
In addition, it is incumbent on us all to appreciate that there are significant contradictions between the coffee shop policy in the Netherlands and international agreements. The single convention on narcotic drugs 1961 states that effective measures against abuse of narcotic drugs require co-ordinated and universal action; the convention calls for international co-operation aimed at common objectives. That is our policy. It is not a joking matter at all; the Government are doing all that we can to drive down drug taking.
Asylum Seekers
12. Mr. Mike Gapes (Ilford, South): If he will make a statement on the dispersal programme for asylum seekers. [121542]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mrs. Barbara Roche): We began to phase in the new support arrangements for destitute asylum seekers on 3 April 2000 for those who applied for asylum at port, and in-country in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
On 17 April, we extended the new arrangements to those applying while in Kent, and to applicants who have had their first refusal of asylum while living in Kent and are appealing against that decision. We hope to bring all other new applicants on to the new arrangements within six months.
Mr. Gapes: I am grateful for that reply, and my hon. Friend will know that I was one of the hon. Members who supported the idea of a dispersal policy because it would take pressure off the London boroughs. However, will she assure me that the policy will be properly funded, that the centres will be properly established and that problems will not lead to people leaving those areas, returning to London and becoming destitute because there are inadequate support mechanisms in those localities? Will she also assure me that the Government will not adopt the policy of the Conservative party of locking up all asylum seekers and stopping people living with their relatives in this country if they have them?
Mrs. Roche: I understand my hon. Friend's concerns. As another London Member, I know very well the situation in London. That is why we made the arrangements for dispersal, and I reassure my hon. Friend that we are making arrangements outside London. As he will know, we are grant-funding some refugee organisations to provide support services, to assist with a variety of matters and to help local authorities and other service providers. So far, the arrangements have gone very well and I am grateful to all the people who have supported them.
Dr. Evan Harris (Oxford, West and Abingdon): The Minister will know that we have corresponded over the possible use of a former old people's home in my constituency to house asylum seekers on a temporary basis until the site is sold for redevelopment. Its use is being considered because of the extremely high cost of bed-and-breakfast accommodation at a time when the accommodation situation is tight. Will the hon. Lady join me in condemning the activities of Conservatives locally, who have claimed that the proposal is to build a detention centre at Oseney Court on the Botley road, and will she
also condemn the conduct of a local councillor who talks of strangers kicking elderly people out of their accommodation?
Mrs. Roche: I understand completely the points that the hon. Gentleman makes. They illustrate again the complete nonsense of the Conservatives' policy. I was very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the contact that we have had on this issue and it is apparent that Members of Parliament on both sides of the House take such cases very seriously, particularly as they affect their constituencies. I am willing to discuss cases on an individual basis with hon. Members and I hope that the attitudes that they have taken will continue to prevail.
Electoral Procedures Experiment
13. Maria Eagle (Liverpool, Garston): What reports he has received about the response of the electorate to the experimental voting arrangements tried out in the May local elections. [121543]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien): Under the terms of the Representation of the People Act 2000, local authorities have three months in which to carry out a formal evaluation of their recent electoral pilot schemes. The evaluation reports are likely to include an assessment of the electorate's attitude towards the schemes.
Maria Eagle: Given that only the postal balloting experiment appears to have led to an appreciable increase in turnout, and that turnout at the recent local elections fell generally, will my hon. Friend consider extending the provisions of full postal balloting to all local council elections?
Mr. O'Brien: There is certainly a strong case, on its merits, for all-postal ballots in council elections. However, the way in which the evaluation reports will have to be examined and the consideration that we shall have to give to the administration of the pilot schemes means that we are not able, as yet, to make a decision about such ballots. We hope that many local authorities will apply to run pilot schemes in future elections.
Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet): The Minister will know that an unusually high number of ballot papers were spoilt in the recent elections for the mayor and assembly of London. Earlier, the Minister seemed to imply that ballot papers were spoilt because many electors voted only for the mayor, not the assembly. As those ballots were completely separate, is the Minister prepared to publish a paper saying how the ballot papers were spoilt so that Londoners may be better informed on this important and worrying issue?
Mr. O'Brien: In the mayoral election, 38,141 ballot papers were spoilt, equivalent to 2.18 per cent. of those issued. In the Greater London Authority constituency elections, 88,142 ballots were spoilt, or 5.04 per cent. In the GLA top-up, 161,972 ballots were spoilt, equivalent to 9.27 per cent. I trust that that deals with the hon. Gentleman's question.
Steel Industry
3.31 pm
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington): I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 24, to debate an important, urgent and specific matter, namely
- the major announcement by Corus, formerly British Steel, to make 168 redundancies and reduce shift operations in my constituency.
The matter requires urgent debate because, at this very moment, Corus is considering further investment decisions both within and outside the euro area, especially in France, which totally undermine the viability of its west Cumbrian operations. Furthermore, decisions taken in Brussels to reduce percentage levels of regional assistance to west Cumbria on the basis that it has a healthy steel industry are no longer valid and need to be reconsidered.
The voice of the UK Parliament needs to be heard. The matter is specific to the national debate on Britain's export performance as, historically, the Workington plant has exported 70 per cent. of its production worldwide, as well as supplying almost the entire UK requirement for railway lines. The decision exposes the unpalatable truth that, thanks to Corus and its management, Britain will change from being the world's leading exporter of railtrack products to being one of its largest importers. The implications for the balance of payments are unacceptable and draconian. May we have a debate, Madam Speaker, if not today, certainly in the near future?
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