Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Does my right hon. Friend agree that many drivers would prefer not to have alcoholic drinks if cheaper soft drinks and non-alcoholic beers and lagers were available? The 400 per cent. mark-up on non-alcoholic lager is an outrageous rip-off and an absolute disgrace. We should consider making representations to breweries on reducing the price of such drinks. That would save us having to...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Has my right hon. Friend studied what some of us consider to be the resounding success of the American drug courts, which deal exclusively with drug addicts and users of all ages? There is a highly specialised network of professional advisers and therapists to make recommendations to the drugs judge, who, for many years, has investigated drug addiction. That seems to be the right way in which...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: May I convey my congratulations to my right hon. Friend, even though the Wigan, Leigh and Bolton health authority has not been included? There is some disappointment about that, but we have put down a marker for mark II of the grants. Wigan is a classic example of an area of mining obsolescence, and the same is true of textiles in the Bolton area. We have the worst dental health records in...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware that many of the young offenders on remand are drug takers. Will she bear in mind the astounding success of the American drug courts, which have a specialised judge and a specialised team of workers? Their aims are to deter and to rehabilitate young offenders. Statistically, the programme has been a resounding success. Does she agree that adopting such...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Does the Minister agree that, for informed debate on Europe, it is imperative that essential information is provided? Is it not clear that the Tories want a debate informed by their own prejudice, and that they are not interested in the facts?
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: How soon can the Minister place on a fast track regional government for the north-west region? Does he accept that limited self-rule is imperative and that there is unanimity among the Confederation of British Industry, all employers federations, local government, trade unions and Members of Parliament about the need to get it off the ground as quickly as possible? Is it really necessary to...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I welcome the Minister's enthusiastic efforts to improve the system that was introduced by the previous Government, which many of us believe is administered incompetently. It is a cock-up. Does he agree with many hon. Members that the Child Support Act 1991 is the most infamous, iniquitous Act that has gone on the statute book since the poll tax legislation? Administrative incompetence,...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: First, I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his statement and I assure him that Labour Members, and certainly the British people, will receive it with acclamation. Having said that, let me be more specific in my question. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the House that his measures to tackle disorder and anti-social crime, especially in industrial areas, will be fairly specific? Can he...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on his lucid presentation. For a new Member, he has an effective insight into the problem—[HON. MEMBERS: "Of jobs"] It is my hon. Friend's privilege to concentrate on jobs. It enables him to get some experience in the Chamber, and I commend his speech this morning. I applaud the fact that we are having this debate. It is...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I agree. It is imperative to keep up the progress in this area, because it will affect the whole future of British aerospace technology. Treasury mandarins have always been the same. Some present in the Chamber today who have had ministerial experience can, I am sure, quote chapter and verse to show how the Treasury cuts off or isolates funding. We have been discussing these matters in the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: There appears to be some confusion between the information that the hon. Gentleman has and what I have been told. It is important that the House be informed as soon as possible, because that is the only way to guarantee democratic accountability. When I first went to the Council of Europe, there were 18 member countries. Now 40 nations belong to it. In WEU—the European wing of NATO—and...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The hon. Gentleman makes a succinct point. The bulk of my constituents who work in the Lostock factories in Bolton and on aircraft wings in Chadderton are highly skilled technicians, from planners on the drawing board to electricians and fitters, which is why I have a direct interest in this matter. The new skill training programme introduced by the Labour Government will do much to reassure...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The right hon. Gentleman would not give way to any of his parliamentary colleagues, but, being a charitable new Labour socialist, I shall give way.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: If something is wrong with the design, the manpower is wasted. The right hon. Gentleman is right about design engineers. I have some in my constituency who are specialists in every sense of the word, and we are proud of that. Their work must complement that of the other workers, whether on the tool bench or on the drawing board. The right hon. Gentleman makes a fair comment, but I did not...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I am sure that my hon. Friend will be interested in the response from industry since the Chancellor declared the independence of the Bank of England. In my part of the world, the largest industrial region in the north-west, the bosses are backing Labour: in the latest poll of industrialists, 88 per cent. responded in support of the Chancellor. Business confidence has been restored for the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Is not one of the principal reasons for the rise in youth crime pointed out by many licensees and suppliers: under-age drinking is on the increase? Does he agree that the best deterrent would be to introduce some form—voluntary or compulsory—of identity card, to include photograph and age?
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Does my hon. Friend agree that any great reforming Labour Government would give priority first and foremost to its pensioners? When does she expect that the pensions review will take place? Has she seen and noted early-day motion 1, the first of this new Parliament? [That this House celebrates with joy and hope the election of what will be a great reforming Labour Government; applauds its...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Will my right hon. Friend assure Labour Members that a Labour Government will never repeat the cut imposed by the Tory Chancellor in his Budget this year, when he reduced overseas aid by £180 million? That deliberate cut imposed untold hardship and misery on hundreds of thousands of African and Asian families so that the price of gin and whisky in this country could be reduced by 27p. Such...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the use of the private finance initiative in respect of clinical services in the NHS. [19173]
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: Does not the Minister understand that, despite the secrecy about clinical services, the creeping privatisation is well known to people in the country? Once again, no reassurance has been given today that a future Conservative Government—heaven forbid—would not take the opportunity to privatise. Does he not understand that people know that, over the past 18 years, the Government have...
