I shall make a short speech, because it is important that other hon. Members make some of their points, and that the Minister has time to respond.

I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) on obtaining this important debate. I wish to highlight one or two things, but first I want to set the debate in context. The issues on which we all receive most letters in our postbags are animal welfare and the social and environmental concerns that affect world trade.

When I visit schools or meet children elsewhere, they say things like, "Why is it that we continue to export animals in this way? Why is it that we continue to rape the rain forests? Why do we continue to use child labour to produce footballs or carpets?" When they say that sort of thing, it challenges me as a Member of Parliament or, indeed, as an adult. It challenged me when I was a teacher. I say, "You have to understand that it is a complicated situation. It is difficult to deal with the problem. There are all sorts of laws and difficulties in understanding how trade organisations work. There is something called GATT, and something called the World Trade Organisation." They reply, "But it's cruel. It's not right."

Such challenges from children to Parliament put the debate in context, and show that we really need to be judged by our actions. I sometimes feel that I am making excuses and explaining away something that it is difficult to explain away. I know that the Government are desperate to do something. Ministers do not believe in cruelty. They want to do something about it.

The purpose of today's debate is to generate even more passion, more desire and more determination in the Government to take on people who use—let us be frank—the cloak of free trade and the liberalisation of trade to continue practices that we regard as barbaric. They do not do so because they want to improve the lot of the people they pretend to represent. They do not do so to increase the prosperity of ordinary people. They do it to protect the profit of individuals in those areas, and they want to continue the exploitation.

None of us is opposed to trade. We all know that trade means prosperity. We do not want to pull up the ladder and say, "We are prosperous and well off, thank you very much. We don't want you to develop your industries." It is in that context that we need to discuss the issue.

In the approaching WTO negotiations, it is important that we understand and accept the key argument that the way in which something is produced or made is an important consideration for this country. We want the right to determine whether products are allowed into this country. That requires fundamental changes to our trading arrangements.

Free trade is one thing; the liberalisation of trade is another; but the exploitation of children, cruelty to animals and the rape of rain forests are something else entirely. We have to ask ourselves some serious questions if we, as part of the civilised world and as a civilising influence on the world, are unable to sit down at the table and help to produce an agreement that protects the environment, supports decent labour standards for people in other countries and improves animal welfare standards, while simultaneously promoting prosperity and enhancing worldwide trade arrangements.

When the children I meet ask me what the Government—not the Labour Government, or the Conservative Government, but our Government, and our Parliament—are doing to address those serious issues and to ensure that we no longer have to witness some of the scenes described by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South, I want to be able to tell them that we are trying to achieve something better.