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Business of the House

If I may say so, the hon. Gentleman has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, but I will start with the sublime. The rebate negotiated by Mrs. Thatcher at Fontainebleau—[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] I can tell that there is real nostalgia on the Conservative Benches for a period of firm leadership. She negotiated that rebate because of the imbalance in the operation of the common agricultural policy and the EU budget in respect of the United Kingdom. The Government have made it clear that as long as that imbalance continues, it will be necessary for us to maintain our position on the rebate. That is the Government's position and it has been set out by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of Exchequer on repeated occasions. I see no need for them to come before the House and say it yet again. I am sorry that we have not yet established a date for the pre-Budget report. As right hon. and hon. Members will have noticed, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has been travelling a lot lately, but I will pass the information on to the House as soon as it becomes available. As to recess dates and the September sitting, I have discussed the issue extensively with hon. Members on both sides of the House. It is clear that there is dissatisfaction about the arrangements for September sittings in the recent past. There are strong feelings about our returning for one week, or perhaps two, at the beginning of September, only then to break for the party conference season and return for a matter of weeks, before a further break for the Queen's Speech, as happens in most years. September sittings are important and the principle of having them ultimately needs to be revisited, but unless we can persuade the political parties to change their conference arrangements, I do not see how we can get the continuity of sitting arrangements that Members require. In the light of that, I have written to the chairs of each of the political parties, urging them to look at this matter and to consider having their conferences earlier in September, thereby allowing the House to return earlier and on a continuous basis, so that the sitting is sensible and manageable for all concerned. I should make it clear to the hon. Gentleman that the reason for this development is very much the reaction of Members from all political parties and in all parts of the House. On the ministerial code, I am confident that a highly experienced Minister will be available to deal with Tuesday's Opposition day debate. He will doubtless set out the Government's position with care and clarity. I dealt last week with the Lobby issue to which the hon. Gentleman referred. I am full of admiration for the robust nature of the Government Whips Office. The Whips do their job extremely well.