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Mr. Hain: I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman's interpretation of the situation. I have answered the point already.
Vera Baird (Redcar): May I return briefly to the welcome announcement about the commission for equalities and human rights, and ask that an early debate might centre on the need, which stands side by side with that announcement, for a single equalities Bill, so that each of the strands that the commission will cover can be enforced with equal vigour?
Mr. Hain: I shall draw my hon. and learned Friend's point to the attention of the Secretary of State. I am grateful that she welcomes the announcement of the new organisation, which will improve the rights of all those whose interests it seeks to address.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): Further to the point so powerfully raised by my right hon. Friend the full-time shadow Leader of the House, is the part-time Leader of the House aware that the postal strike has spread to Berkshire, Coventry, Oxford and beyond? Is he aware that it is causing grave problems not only as regards the ways that Members in all parts of the House can communicate with their constituents, but with regard to the provision of payments through the Department for Work and Pensions to pensioners and other vulnerable people in our society? Is he also aware that Adam Crozier, the chief executive of the Royal Mail, said:
- "There is a fair amount of intimidation by unions in London, which is illegal"?
Mr. Hain: As the hon. Gentleman knows, talks are under way between management and the unions in an
effort to resolve the dispute. It is in their interest and in the interest of all of us, that that is done as soon as possible. I understand the difficulty of communications with constituencies. There are, however, two alternatives—e-mail and telephone—with which we can get by meanwhile and on which we can rely. [Interruption.] I know that the shadow Leader of the House does not do e-mail, but most other Members do. I admire the right hon. Gentleman's commitment to tradition. On the serious point made by the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) about benefits, both the Royal Mail and the Department for Work and Pensions have contingency plans to minimise the effects of any action, to ensure that anybody, including pensioners, who is entitled to benefits or other payments receives them.
Richard Younger-Ross (Teignbridge): In the Leader of the House's announcement of the provisional business for the week after next, he allocated time for consideration of the remaining stages of the Water Bill. Would he consider extending the period of that debate, as many on both sides of the House fear that a substantial part of the debate will be taken up by discussion of fluoridation, although many other parts of the Bill are equally important? I draw particular attention to the concerns of Members from the south-west, where the highest water charges for the cleaning up of 30 per cent. of the nation's beaches are being paid for by 3 per cent. of the population.
Mr. Hain: I recognise the points that the hon. Gentleman makes. A full day has been allocated for the debate, which can be programmed. No doubt those responsible will bear his comments in mind.
Mr. Harry Barnes (North-East Derbyshire): Has my right hon. Friend seen today's issue of the Yorkshire Post, which carries an article about a serious firework incident in Eckington in my constituency? It seems that a mortar bomb firework was strapped to a rocket and went through a ceiling, seriously damaging a child's cot. It is lucky that Joel Eason was not in the cot at the time, or he could have been killed. My right hon. Friend might remember that on 16 October I raised the matter of fireworks with him at business questions and asked for a statement from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in order to implement the Fireworks Act 2003, which was introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan). The existing legislation should be used proactively to co-ordinate the various agencies involved. We have not had a statement, written or verbal, from the Secretary of State. Such a statement would be welcome, so that my constituents could see what effective action is being taken for the future.
Mr. Hain: I have not had a chance to see the Yorkshire Post, but I agree that the phenomenon—the problem of firework fiends who are terrorising neighbourhoods and individuals—is serious and needs to be dealt with. A case in Llanelli was reported in my local Evening Post. A firework was unleashed through the front window of a pensioner's home and hit her. Three men have been arrested. As my hon. Friend says, that calls for a much more proactive attitude on the part of head teachers,
youth workers, the police and local authorities to make sure that fireworks can be enjoyed safely on Guy Fawkes day, rather than the new breed of explosive fireworks that are almost weapons, which are unleashed on neighbours and members of the community. It should be a time when children can enjoy the spectacle of fireworks in safety, not an opportunity to terrorise people.
Mr. Bill Tynan (Hamilton, South): Will my right hon. Friend make time available for an urgent debate on the storage of high, medium and low-level nuclear waste?
Mr. Hain: My hon. Friend has opportunities to apply for a debate himself, but I shall pass on his concerns to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge): I heartily endorse the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, South-West (Dr. Starkey) about the reform of the hours. May I suggest to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House that some of the opposition to the reforms might be diminished if he were to review public access to the Palace of Westminster, particularly during morning sittings?
Mr. Hain: I agree that we need to consider public access. It is one of the teething problems that have arisen as a result of the new hours—for example, many Members have told me that they find it difficult to arrange constituency visits. With the new sitting hours of the House, such visits can take place only on Monday. There are various options to overcome the problem. One is to install a glass window behind the Gallery. The way we treat our visitors must be examined in a broader context. We do not make them as welcome as we should. I am keen to look at that, but in the meantime I shall address my hon. Friend's point.
John Mann (Bassetlaw): Does my right hon. Friend agree that every full-time member of staff whom we employ should be provided with a computer by the House? If he does agree, when will he introduce such a proposal, so that the current inequity between computers and staff is overcome?
Mr. Hain: My sympathies are with my hon. Friend. The matter is being considered and we hope to make an announcement in due course to see whether his request can be met.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff, West): Will my right hon. Friend arrange for an early debate on the minimum wage? Is it not timely to consider its impact, particularly on employment? When it was introduced, some hon. Members thought that it might have a negative impact on jobs—an idea that might be described as having something of the right about it.
Mr. Hain: That would be a worthwhile debate. Many members of the state-funded Conservative party said—[Interruption.] Indeed, state-funded. In the last period, the Conservative party got more money from public funds than it raised through private donations. My hon. Friend makes an important point. There were accusations and allegations that millions of jobs would be lost. The about-to-be crowned leader of the Conservative party said that 2 million jobs would be lost as a result of the introduction of the minimum wage. In fact, 1.6 million new jobs have been created since the minimum wage was introduced, showing that we can have economic stability, full employment and high social standards.
David Cairns (Greenock and Inverclyde): I draw my right hon. Friend's attention to the report published this week by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention entitled, "Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003" which, despite recording some encouraging progress, notes worryingly that in the past year opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased, opium production has increased dramatically, and the geographical spread of opium planting has reached 28 of the 32 provinces of Afghanistan. Given that the destruction of the opium trade was part of the raison d'etre for the war on Afghanistan, which I supported, and given that 90 per cent. of the heroin on the streets of his constituency and mine originates as poppies in Afghanistan, is it not time for a Foreign Office Minister to make a statement to the House about these worrying findings, or at least for a debate, so that we understand the implications and hear what the Government propose to do about the matter?
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