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Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): May we have an urgent debate next week on the shocking statistics published by the Home Office, which show that the number of stop and searches of people of Asian origin
 
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has risen by 38 per cent. since September 2001, and by 36 per cent. for those of Afro-Caribbean origin? That is of concern to the people of Leicester and also to the wider community, so does my right hon. Friend agree that we should have a debate about that important issue?

Mr. Hain: I know that the matter is of concern to the people of Leicester and I am grateful that my hon. Friend has raised it. The Government are concerned about any issue of disproportionality and those figures suggest that pretty conclusively. We are committed to improving and developing a close partnership with the Muslim and other communities, with the shared aim of combating terrorism, as I know those communities want us to do, and we are undertaking specific work to reassure Muslim communities that counter-terrorism powers are being used proportionately and appropriately and that that will continue to happen in the future.

Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): Can the Leader of the House tell us whether we will have a statement on the situation in Darfur before the House rises for the summer recess? There has been speculation that armed elements from the African Union and elsewhere will be going there to defend the people. When will they be in place and what other help is being given to the 1 million people who are under threat every day?

Mr. Hain: As the hon. Gentleman knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development made a statement two weeks ago. We all share the hon. Gentleman's concern. The Prime Minister is well seized of the matter and has been actively engaged, along with the Foreign Secretary, and there will be an opportunity for the hon. Gentleman to raise the point again next Wednesday.

Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): Is the Leader of the House aware that on the basis of what he has already said to my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), it would seem that waiting until 11 October will be a bit too late to get the hunting measure through? Will the Leader of the House confirm that it is in his mind that when we come back in September would be the most appropriate time, as there is not much time left now? It would make those eight or nine days very exciting—although we only need one—if we got the measure through and put the House of Lords firmly in its place.

Mr. Hain: There speaks the voice of experience and great wisdom in Parliament, but as my hon. Friend also knows from his long experience I have not yet announced any business for September.

Mr. Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD): Will the Leader of the House ensure that next Tuesday's business finishes promptly so that as many Members as possible can watch the excellent BBC programme "Restoration", which, as it happens, features a project in my constituency, Clestrain hall in Orphir in Orkney? It is not just about the restoration of a building but about the belated restoration of a man's reputation—that of the late Dr. John Rae, who was vilified by the
 
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19th century establishment as a result of the evidence he brought back about the fate of the Franklin expedition in the north-west passage. Will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that we are not forced to miss that televisual feast?

Mr. Hain: It sounds fascinating and the hon. Gentleman has given it a fantastic plug.

Mr. Graham Allen (Nottingham, North) (Lab): Neither the House nor I, as a Nottingham Member, has been directly informed about this: I read in the newspaper this morning that my city of Nottingham is to be rate-capped. The council tax payers will be billed, at a cost of £250,000, for an over-budget of £180,000. Does my right hon. Friend accept that that is arrant nonsense and that over-centralisation has reached a ridiculous pitch? The orders are before the House at present. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that the matter is debated on the Floor of the House, rather than being tucked away in a Committee Upstairs, so that Members from Nottingham can bring the Deputy Prime Minister to the Dispatch Box instead of the Minister for Local and Regional Government, who is fully conversant with the fact that it is ridiculous to save £180,000 by charging council tax payers £250,000?

Mr. Hain: Both the Minister for Local and Regional Government and the Deputy Prime Minister will have carefully noted my hon. Friend's statement. The Minister for Local and Regional Government made a written ministerial statement today, which outlines the whole position, and my hon. Friend will be able to have sight of it now. Notwithstanding the issues that he properly raised about Nottingham, I am sure he will understand that it is in the interests of all council tax payers and of the country that local authorities keep their council tax rises to an absolute minimum, especially for people on fixed incomes.

Mr. Bill Wiggin (Leominster) (Con): The Leader of the House will be aware of the fantastic job that the Royal Welch Fusiliers are doing in Basra. Will there be an opportunity to discuss, debate or even prevent the cuts that may be coming to the manpower in our armed forces because the Ministry of Defence has probably spent too much on equipment?

Mr. Hain: As Secretary of State for Wales, I was in Brecon on Thursday night, watching a marvellous display of beating the retreat performed by Welsh regiments. I share the hon. Gentleman's view that the Royal Welch Fusiliers have done a fantastic job in Basra, as have many other Welsh soldiers. Some of them have just returned from action there and some are about to go out. Perhaps we can at least unite in applauding all their work.

Mr. Tony Banks (West Ham) (Lab): Speaking as a chairman of the works of art committee, I confirm my right hon. Friend's observation that the painting in the Members' Tea Room is indeed of a parliamentary steeplechase. The only dog that appears is a Jack Russell, clearly an unsuitable beast for chasing foxes. Perhaps the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Mr.
 
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Tyler) should have listened more closely to his mother's strictures when she told him that if he carried on doing it his eyes would eventually fail him.

May I tell my right hon. Friend that, although he is trusted implicitly on the Labour Benches on the abolition of hunting wild mammals with dogs, there is also a degree of nervousness? It is a problem for us, and I hope that he will not misunderstand the fact that my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) and various right hon. and hon. Members will be going to see the Prime Minister to ensure that his firmness and integrity on the issue are the same as my right hon. Friend's.

Mr. Hain: I am sure that there is no question about the Prime Minister's views on the matter. Just as I am on the same side of the football pitch as my hon. Friend, as a Chelsea supporter, so, too, I am on the same side as him in the argument about hunting.

Bob Spink (Castle Point) (Con): May we find time for a further debate on choice in education? I can then show how wrong it would be to close one of Canvey's three excellent secondary schools, not least because it would frustrate both parties in developing policies on choice in education and would prevent the Conservatives from giving the people of Canvey real choice following the next election, which we will win.

Mr. Hain: Obviously, I cannot speak of the situation in Canvey, which the hon. Gentleman quite properly raises as a local Member of Parliament, but the people of Canvey will be very clear about the choice before the next election: continued massive investment under Labour, with more and more public provision for schools free of charge, and the Conservatives' policy of taking money from the state system and shipping it down the road to private schools to subsidise with taxpayers' money private schools that only a minority of the country can attend. We are in favour of choice and high standards for everyone, not a tiny, Conservative few.

Mr. John Lyons (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): The Leader of the House will be aware of early-day motions on the future of the Forensic Science Service. He will also understand that there is widespread support throughout the House to keep that service. Will he urgently find time to hold a debate on that issue?

Mr. Hain: I will certainly ensure that the Home Secretary hears what my hon. Friend has said—my right hon. Friend is sitting next to me—but the Forensic Science Service has played a very important part over the years and will continue to do so.

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