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Business of the House

At Treasury questions this morning—I was present, but the Leader of the House did not have the benefit of hearing what Ministers had to say—Ministers left us confused and concerned about reports that the Government are now willing to surrender some or all of the British rebate. Can we have an urgent 10 Nov 2005 : Column 471 statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer about what he is planning, particularly whether he is planning to do a deal in order to secure a final budget settlement before the end of the UK presidency? Can we have a statement about what would be a major betrayal of Government promises as soon as the Chancellor returns from the middle east? No mention was made in Treasury questions about a date for the pre-Budget report. The Leader of the House will remember—I pressed him on it last week—that many Members want to be present to hear that report and may need to amend their diaries. There is no reason why the date could not have been published by now. Is it not the height of discourtesy to the House that it has not yet been published? I am glad that the Leader of the House responded to my request for the publication of dates for next year's recesses, but I want to raise one matter with him. When did he decide to abandon the September recess? My understanding was that the reason why we did not have a September recess this year—[Interruption.] I am grateful. The Leader of the House will know that we had no September sitting this year because of the construction of the security screen. It is finished and I was not aware that we needed another one for next year. Is this therefore a permanent decision? Will there be no September sittings in future? If so, when was that decision taken? Will the new Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster be in place to respond to next week's debate on the ministerial code? If not, will the right hon. Gentleman tell us why the Prime Minister seems to believe that the Cabinet Office is no longer an important part of his Government? At last week's business questions, I asked the Leader of the House for a statement and debate on trade justice before the Hong Kong trade summit in December. Since then, the preliminary talks have collapsed without agreement. Given that the Government know how strongly Members on both sides of the House feel about the issue and given the strength of the lobbies taking place outside this place, when will we get a statement about what has happened and what can be done to rectify the situation? Finally, I am sure that the Leader of the House shares my concern about the rising tide of violence in Britain. He will also be aware of the possible legal difficulties faced by many of our people—teachers, for example, trying to intervene to break up a fight in a school playground. In the light of recent events here, will he ensure that members of the Government Whips Office are given access to legal advice, so that they know exactly where they stand if they are forced to intervene to break up a fight in the Labour Lobby?