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Business of the House

I have told the Leader of the House how annoyed hon. Members are about the decision to postpone next week’s debate on police reform. Will he give an absolute assurance that he will hold the debate before Christmas? Has the Leader of the House seen media reports that when the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Lord Drayson, was chief executive of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, he was responsible for selling substandard vaccines to the national health service, and that concerns about the company’s practices were raised with the Government by regulators here, in Ireland and in the United States? Does he accept that there needs to be an immediate statement to the House about the allegations and that Health Ministers need to tell Members what they are planning to do to investigate the matter? Furthermore, will the right hon. Gentleman also ask the Secretary of State for Defence to come to the House to make a statement on whether any of the vaccines provided by Lord Drayson’s company to our armed forces were also substandard? Does he agree that if that proves to have been the case, Lord Drayson’s position as a Minister would be in serious doubt? I know that the Leader of the House is aware that since I raised the subject of energy supply with him at Prime Minister’s questions three weeks ago, the wholesale price of gas has rocketed. Indeed, it was discussed at Prime Minister’s questions yesterday. We will either have gas shortages this winter or consumers and businesses will pay much more for their energy. Why does the Leader of the House continue to refuse to hold a long-promised debate in Government time on energy, and when can we expect to hear more about the way in which the Government plan to respond to the growing crisis? Despite all their promises, the Government plan to negotiate away the British rebate in Brussels in the next few weeks. In a recent visit to Brussels, the Deputy Prime Minister said:"““We have put our abatement on the table. It is not the best way to spend European money.””" Can we have an urgent statement from the Prime Minister about the rebate, and will the Leader of the House admit that the promises made by the Prime Minister to the House in the summer were worthless? Finally, last week, the Leader of the House was dismissive of the absurd rules and regulations in barmy Britain. Let me try again, and ask for a statement from Health Ministers. The guild of friends in my local cottage hospital has agreed to spend a few hours each week tending the flowers in the wards, but they have been told that before they can even top up water in the vases they must provide evidence of their identity and address to the Criminal Records Bureau. Does the Leader of the House not think that that is truly barmy?