Mr Michael Trend: I seek clarification, because I have not understood this point. Is the hon. Gentleman saying that, as a result of the court judgment, the inhabitants have the right to go back home straight away, but the Government are delaying their return? I am not trying to make a party political point. I had assumed that they would not be allowed to go back until 2016, but the hon. Gentleman seems to be...
Mr Michael Trend: Is my hon. Friend concerned that the remarks made from the Labour Benches are fallacious? Inhabitants of St. Helena have no right to higher education because there is no possibility of higher education, but it would be unfair for them to have to come here and pay an enormous sum to exercise a right as a British citizen.
Mr Michael Trend: The hon. Gentleman said that the measure would bring an end to second-class citizenship, but citizenship, as we understand the word, will continue to be second-class for St. Helenians in relation to education. As Saints will have to fulfil residency requirements, and as they have no opportunity to take up tertiary, higher, or further education in their own islands, they will still suffer...
Mr Michael Trend: Does the Secretary of State appreciate that my constituents in and around Windsor will be disappointed by one aspect of his important announcement today? Of course, there should be a balance between the vital national interest of the country and the rights of local people, but there is no such balance in his statement. Indeed, he talks about the changes in westerly preferences, but I...
Mr Michael Trend: I thank my hon. Friend very much for allowing me to intervene briefly in the debate and I also thank the Minister. I congratulate my hon. Friend on his good sense in bringing this debate and on his good fortune in securing it. I pay tribute to the clear way in which he has outlined the continuous distress caused to our constituents by night flights. I also want to congratulate the brave...
Mr Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the Government will issue their response to the ruling of the European Court on Human Rights on the future of night flights at Heathrow Airport; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the establishment of a medal for those who served in the Canal Zone campaign 1951–54.
Mr Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he has made to the Government of Azerbaijan concerning freedom of assembly and political expression in Azerbaijan; (2) if he will make a statement on relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia; (3) if he will make representations to (a) the President and (b) Foreign Office of Azerbaijan about the...
Mr Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations he had made to the Government of Sri Lanka concerning the suspension of the Sri Lankan Parliament; and if he will make a statement; (2) if he will ask the Commonwealth to send observers to the forthcoming referendum in Sri Lanka; (3) what plans he has to send election observers to oversee the...
Mr Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy on Gibraltar.
Mr Michael Trend: As this is my first opportunity to do so, may I welcome the Minister to his new position? He will know that I am raising the issue of Belarus as a governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which is ably led by the hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Ross). It continues to make good progress in countries newly arrived at democracy and civic society around the world. Indeed, sitting...
Mr Michael Trend: I was very interested in the experiences of the hon. Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) regarding the rail network, but I thought that she was not sufficiently critical of the Government. They are now in their fourth winter and have had a great deal of time to develop new policies for the rail network, if they chose to do so. I was more interested in the hon. Lady's comments on human rights....
Mr Michael Trend: As the hon. Gentleman knows, I too am a governor of the WFD, under his excellent chairmanship; I warmly acknowledge the support of the Foreign Office for the foundation's important work. If I am fortunate enough to catch your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I hope to raise this subject later: in the context of conversations that we have held at the WFD, does it surprise the hon. Gentleman that, last...
Mr Michael Trend: Has the Foreign Secretary not considered that the applicant countries are far less interested in the internal deepening of the Brussels structure than in what is to happen to the common agricultural policy? How can he claim that we are seriously looking forward to enlargement unless that problem has at least begun to be tackled?
Mr Michael Trend: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Michael Trend: Will the Government continue to think about the new clauses? The 96 hon. Members who appeared in the Lobby with the Bill's proponents just now show how great is the groundswell in the country in support of the Bill. The considerable correspondence that Members of Parliament receive from constituents shows how anxious people are about their relationship with doctors and about what doctors, as...
Mr Michael Trend: The Minister said that the Government's definition of euthanasia was the intentional removal of life. In the Bland case, the Law Lords all agreed on that point. Lord Lowry, for example, said that the intention to bring about the patient's death is there. The Law Lords were desperately realistic about what happened to Tony Bland. There was the intention to kill him, and that is what happened....
Mr Michael Trend: The hon. Gentleman says that the Bill would make doctors fearful of the consequences or the publicity. I take a different view. The Bill would remove from elderly or sick people and their parents, friends and relations the fear that their doctor might end their life by refusing to give them food and drink. That is the specific aim of the Bill. We all agree that the Bland case was very...
Mr Michael Trend: The Bill was fully discussed in Committee, and many of the complicated points that the hon. Gentleman is bringing up could have been raised at that stage. His speech will give rise to the suspicion that he is engaged in an attempt to wreck the Bill by talking it out today.
Mr Michael Trend: There is a further complexity. I know that this is not a direct parallel, but, according to the hon. Gentleman's proposals, a case such as the Shipman case might be held in camera. Surely what the hon. Gentleman calls the media circus was helpful, in terms of the public good, in the Shipman case.
