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19 Jul 2004 : Column 32W—continued

Orange Parades

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of providing assistance to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in policing the 1 July parade organised by Ballymacarrett District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 6. [182853]

Mr. Ingram: There were no additional Army manpower costs in providing public order support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in connection with the 1 July parade organised by the Ballymacarrett Loyal Orange Lodge District No. 6 in East Belfast. It is not possible to provide the additional equipment usage and fuel costs except at disproportionate cost.

Trident Replacement

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in assessing options for the replacement of the Trident missile system. [184480]

Mr. Hoon: Work on a range of options for maintaining a nuclear deterrent capability is in hand in accordance with the policy set out in last December's Defence White Paper. As that White paper made clear, decisions on whether to replace Trident are not needed this Parliament but are likely to be required in the next one.

PRIME MINISTER

Arms Trafficking

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions he has raised British exemption from the US International Traffic in Arms Regulation with the US Administration; and when he expects the exemption to be granted. [185171]

The Prime Minister: We are working closely with the US Administration to secure the necessary legislative approval to give effect to an exemption for the United Kingdom from the International Traffic in Arms Regulations as soon as possible.
 
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Butler Report

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister which Ministers were provided with an advance copy of the Butler Committee Report. [184825]

The Prime Minister: The Butler Review provided the Government with the final version of its report on 13 July.

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will establish an inquiry into the leaks to the media of parts of the report of the Butler Committee on the review of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction prior to its publication. [185188]

The Prime Minister: The Government have no plans to establish an inquiry.

Correspondence

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister when he will answer the letter to him of 30 June from the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent about the Iraq Oil for Food programme. [185160]

The Prime Minister: My Office received the letter on 5 July. I shall reply to the hon. Member shortly.

G8 Presidency (Priorities)

Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister what the Government's priorities were when the UK last held the G8 presidency; and what priorities will be set for the next presidency. [184222]

The Prime Minister: The priorities of the G7 summit held in Birmingham in 1998 were increasing employment, the environment and crime, particularly drugs and money laundering. We also sought to take steps forward on debt relief, which led to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

The main priorities for the UK presidency of the G8 in 2005 will be Africa and climate change. The work of the Commission for Africa and taking forward the Kyoto Protocol will be major parts of our agenda.

We will also take forward issues from this year's G8 meeting in the United States including reform in the Middle East, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and

trade.

Iraq

Clare Short: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his statement of 14 July on the Butler report, what information caused him to decide on 15 March 2003 that it was his unequivocal view that Iraq was in further material breach of Resolution 1441; what account he took of Dr. Hans Blix's recent report on increased co-operation from the Iraqi authorities and his request for more time for inspections; and if he will make a statement. [185082]

The Prime Minister: Iraq was in further material breach under Operative Paragraph 4 of UNSCR 1441 because of


 
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As Lord Butler said in his report

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister whether following publication of the Butler Committee report he is able to reveal whether GCHQ provided any information on alleged attempts by Iraq to obtain uranium from Niger. [185567]

The Prime Minister: As Lord Butler made clear in his report

Ministerial Committee on Public Health

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Prime Minister when the Ministerial Committee on Public Health (MISC27) was established. [184567]

The Prime Minister: I announced the establishment of the Ministerial Committee on Public Health (MISC27) to Parliament on Thursday 27 May 2004.

Radioactive Waste (Italy)

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister whether he discussed with President Berlusconi, during his meeting on 13 July, the future timetable for the return of radioactive waste to Italy arising from the contracted reprocessing of Italian spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield. [184826]

The Prime Minister: My discussions with Prime Minister Berlusconi focused on international and European issues. As with previous administrations, it is not the practice of this Government to make public all the details of discussions with foreign Governments.

Terrorism

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to publish further Joint Intelligence Committee assessments to assist public understanding of the threats from terrorism and proliferation, to which he made special reference in his statement to the House on 14 July. [185187]

The Prime Minister: The Government have no current plans to publish Joint Intelligence Committee assessments. However, as the Butler report recognises in paragraph 342 (HC 898), there are likely to be demands in the future on Government to put intelligence into the public domain. The Government fully accepts the conclusions of the Butler report, including those relating to the public use of intelligence.

TREASURY

Annual Income (Taxpayers)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers have (a) total annual income and (b) earned annual income in excess of (i) £100,000, (ii) £250,000 and (iii) £1 million. [185166]


 
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Dawn Primarolo: The information is given in the following table:
Number of taxpayers (thousand)

Income range(a) By range of annual income(b) By range of earned income
(i) £100,000 or more329278
(ii) £250,000 or more6351
(iii) £1,000,000 or more54




Note:
The estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes 2001–02.



Art Prizes (Taxation)

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue raised from taxation of prizes awarded for art, in each of the last three years. [184446]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not have central records of the amount of revenue raised from taxation of prizes awarded for art. These sort of data are not shown separately on tax returns and to ask taxpayers to provide it would be an extra burden. If a prize is received by an individual in the course of a trade, vocation or profession, then the prize will normally be taxable.


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