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Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North) (Lab): Can the Leader of the House help me with a very serious problem involving parliamentary accountability? On 10 June the Foreign Secretary tabled two Orders in Council, which Her Majesty signed, denying the Chagos islanders the right to return to Diego Garcia or any other islands, and handing over control of those islands to a commissioner. I understand that the Orders in Council cannot be debated in the House. I have tabled an early-day motion asking for a debate.

Does the Leader of the House not think that in the 21st century it is outrageous that the Head of State can sign an order denying rights granted by a British court to British citizens? Apparently there is no parliamentary accountability whatever for that decision. Will the Leader of the House kindly ensure that the Foreign Secretary tables a motion seeking approval for the orders, so that many of us can simply vote against them?

Mr. Hain: The Foreign Secretary and I are aware of my hon. Friend's long championing of the islanders' cause, and the Foreign Secretary will take careful note of his argument.

Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West) (Con): May we have a debate on the distribution of the resources that have been made available for closed-circuit television? In New Milton we are desperate for CCTV to combat thuggery and antisocial behaviour. It is now becoming a matter of urgency: we are given to understand that if we do not have CCTV in the next 15 months, we shall find that instead of cameras being available in Station road they will all have been installed in the forest to catch new offenders against the crime of hunting.

Mr. Hain: I assume from what the hon. Gentleman has said about CCTV and other extra security protection for local communities, including the one to which he referred, that he will be backing the Government's spending programmes for the Home Office budget rather than the big cuts in law and order that the Conservatives are planning for their first two years in government—if they are elected. That will mean cutting programmes such as the one that we are determined to implement to give local communities proper protection. The hon. Gentleman should support the Government's policies, not the Opposition's.

Mr. David Chaytor (Bury, North) (Lab): In the next few days, two British ships will arrive in Charleston, South Carolina to collect a shipment of 140 kg of weapons-grade plutonium. The plutonium, stripped out of American nuclear weapons, will then be transported back across the Atlantic to Cherbourg in northern France. Does my right hon. Friend think that, in the
 
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post-9/11 world, it makes any sense at all for a British company wholly owned by the state to engage in the new international trade in weapons-grade plutonium? May we have a debate on the environmental and security implications of that trade?

Mr. Hain: Again, the Foreign Secretary will want to take careful note of that salutary point. Of course, someone has to dispose of the waste: it is one of the consequences of that particular form of energy. People might bear that in mind when thinking about Britain's future energy needs and requirements. Clearly expertise lies in Britain—that is why this is happening—but the issues raised by my hon. Friend will have been carefully noted, and I am sure there will be responses.

Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham) (Con): May we please have an urgent debate in Government time on Darfur, western Sudan? Given that aerial bombing, mass shooting, widespread rape, burnings alive, destruction of crops, theft of livestock and poisoning of water supplies are all part of the cocktail of barbarity that has stunned the world, and given that the Prime Minister rightly told the Labour party conference in 2001 that if ever there was a threat of a repetition of Rwanda Britain would have a moral duty to act, does the right hon. Gentleman accept that it is essential for us, in this House of Commons, to have an early debate on how the international community can hold the Government of Sudan to account for despicable crimes against humanity, how we can ensure access for humanitarian aid, how we can protect the camps, and how we can safeguard people who are threatened with one of the worst genocides in the history of the world?

Mr. Hain: I strongly agree with the spirit of the hon. Gentleman's comments. He has worked very hard on this issue over the last year or so. He is absolutely right: the crimes against humanity are despicable, and there needs to be an accounting for them. I am only sorry that the hon. Gentleman is no longer in his Front-Bench post to go on arguing the case so eloquently.

How are we to resolve such a complicated issue? The Foreign Secretary is seeking further United Nations authority to make more progress in getting the Sudanese Government to comply precisely because we need that Government's co-operation, and we need to support the African Union's work in achieving an end to the conflict and devastation of which the hon. Gentleman has spoken so eloquently. We are agreed on the whole approach; it is just a question of how to lever in the resources that are needed to change the situation on the ground.

David Winnick (Walsall, North) (Lab): I shall not make any comment about the ongoing security situation. I was not intending to do so until an investigation has taken place. I would not want to fall foul of you, Mr. Speaker.

Does my right hon. Friend not agree, however, that from the very beginning of Parliament, parliamentarians have insisted that we should be able to conduct our debates without any fear of intimidation or harassment from outside? To a large extent, that is now
 
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the cornerstone of our parliamentary democracy. What happened yesterday, the hooliganism and the thuggery, must never be repeated.

Mr. Hain: That was a very interesting question, given the circumscribed nature of these business questions. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend's sentiments. It would be absolutely unacceptable for anything like what happened yesterday ever to happen again: that is why you, Mr. Speaker, and other members of the House   of Commons Commission—including me—are determined to implement the proper reforms to ensure that it does not happen again.

May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Doorkeepers? [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] They had difficulty in coping with the situation, but the failure was not theirs; the failure lay in a more general security breakdown in the Palace.

While I am about it, may I draw attention to what I understand is the last day in the House of the Deputy Serjeant at Arms, whose wife is sitting behind him? I hope that they enjoy a fruitful and happy retirement.

Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con): In a typical "Not me, guv" reply a short time ago, the Leader of the House managed to refer in the abstract to "the House authorities", as if they were somehow detached from him. As a House authority and as a member of the House of Commons Commission, which makes all the key decisions on matters relating to the House, can the right hon. Gentleman give us an absolute undertaking that if the Commission were to present radical proposals of any kind to make any change to our organisation, or the relationship between the House and the public, they would be properly and fully considered by Members rather than decisions being made in secret, behind closed doors, and foisted on us before we knew what was happening?

Mr. Hain: The right hon. Gentleman makes a strong point. I shall certainly bear it in mind as Leader of the House of Commons, and I am sure, Mr. Speaker, that we will all bear it in mind in our role as members of the Commission.

There is no doubt that there is urgent need for reform of the House in terms of security and management. That is something in which I strongly believe. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will support whatever recommendations come from the Commission in due course; and we will bear in mind his request.

Mr. Speaker: Order. I had better intervene at this point, and say that the House will make the ultimate decision on any reform or change.

Dr. Nick Palmer (Broxtowe) (Lab): I wish explicitly to support the call issued by the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on Darfur. However, I rise to ask whether we can have an early debate on the proposed extension of the Nottingham light rail system. I have numerous constituents on both sides of the argument, but everyone is fed up with the delays in the making of funding decisions. The uncertainty is causing
 
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blight for home owners, and making it difficult for businesses in my constituency to plan for the future. We need a decision one way or the other.

Mr. Hain: The Government are strongly committed to the policy on light rail. We will need to make a decision on that matter. The strong argument that my hon. Friend has advanced in respect of Nottingham will be borne in mind by the Secretary of State for Transport.

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